How Far We've Come
by Wide Spread Panic
Summary: AU.G1/IDW. The Decepticons have discovered Ore-13 on Earth and as more and more cons arrive on Earth, can the bots keep control of their outpost and not blow their cover? Now with more youngling hijinks and terrorized mechs. Sequel to Are We There Yet?
1. Ch1: Full Moon

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic in no way owns Transformers. She owns Joey and the plot… and her own twisted mind.

Author's Note: Guys, there's a poll on my profile asking which bots I should torture in this story. So far, Prowl is winning with old Ironhide in second; and Bluestreak, Bumblebee and Mirage have also been nominated. Vote on my next victim, please! And as always, Love to: Meirelle, white dino, blood shifter, CuriousDreamWeaver, Elita One, Carmilla DeWinter, TFSTARFIRE, Prime Revolver, animaluvr3, and RescueAngel for reviewing Are We There Yet? and/or Story Time. And love to the readers. You guys rock out loud! Cleaning chapters up.

* * *

Ch.1: Full Moon

Red Alert was quite possibly the most obnoxious mech in existence. The other mechs knew how obsessive he was and ignored it for the most part. The Security Officer was like an unstoppable force of nature; your best hope was to keep out of his path of destruction. After all, Red's job was to ensure the security of the base. He was expected to pry in places others didn't particularly care for him being. Every Autobot had become more or less resigned to the fact that at any given time, Red Alert was monitoring them. The only reconciling fact being that the mech didn't hold for blackmail.

Joey wasn't coping so well, this was mostly because Red had put cameras in her room. That she could sort of tolerate, but Red had crossed the line. She had went on a shopping trip with Bumblebee that day and had come back to find a camera where no camera had any business being.

She had wanted to take a bath in her brand new tub. Which, since it had been made by a giant alien, was the size of a small pool. She had just tugged her shirt off over her head, when she'd spotted it.

She stared up at it and her mouth fell open in disbelief. She closed her eyes and reopened them. Still there. There was a security camera… over her toilet. She pursed her lips and stomped out of the room, grabbing her shirt on the way, to pay a visit to a certain security officer.

* * *

The halls of the base were huge, metal and a dull gray and to a tiny human, a pain. On the bright side, she definitely got her exercise walking from place to place, though she had gotten into the habit of only walking until she found a friendly mech and then giving them the puppy eyes and asking for a lift. Undignified, but she didn't mind too much. After all, half the base referred her to as "the pet human" or "Fluffy" to her intense annoyance. Especially once they realized she didn't like it.

She heard a loud rumbling and darted to the wall, pressing her back firmly against it. She had learned by heart that the sound of engines in the halls was a bad thing. The roaring was suddenly drowned out by the angry scream of a siren. It turned out that Cybertronians, like humans, got bored. And bored giant aliens weren't a good thing.

Drift, Sunstreaker, Jazz, Sideswipe, and Hot Rod tore around the corner at the end of the hall and past her, the wind from the passage tugging at her clothes like insistent fingers and nearly knocking her down. Prowl rounded the corner next with his lights and sirens going like mad.

"No racing in the halls!" Prowl snarled as he chased the other five out of sight. "Don't make me report this to Prime!"

Blinking after them, Joey peeled herself off the wall and began walking again. Nothing that happened inside the Autobot base really surprised her much anymore. For a bunch of super-advanced aliens, they were amazingly like a group of energetic frat boys.

* * *

Mirage stood in front of Optimus Prime, respectfully silent. Prime was carefully filtering through the bundle of information and recordings that Mirage had uploaded to him. Mirage had yet to figure out how to infiltrate the Deceptions' bunker, but he had been carefully monitoring the Cons' activity for the past several weeks. Invisibility only went so far and Soundwave had been stationed as guard during most of that time. So far the only mechs he'd seen who regularly left the bunker were the seekers and the casseticons, though there had been new arrivals during that time. The seekers when they left regularly came back loaded down, but with what Mirage didn't know.

"We need to get a sample of this Ore-13," Prime said finally. "We can't gauge how big a threat it is, until we can analyze it."

"Sir," Mirage said. "More Decepticons are arriving every day."

"You're worried that Megatron intends to make this a battlefront?" Optimus asked as he turned away from Mirage to consult the screen behind his desk.

Mirage inclined his head slightly. "They're amassing an army. Whatever this Ore-13 is, I don't think they're brewing high-grade. If they're willing to fight for it, it must be very important."

"This world had already been declared an Autobot outpost. They won't just blindly attack us in our base. They only attacked Wheeljack and the younglings because they were alone," Prime said. "It does bother me that, in all this time, Megatron himself has yet to arrive. You yourself have pointed out to me that Starscream seems to be the acting leader."

"Yes, but Soundwave is here." Mirage shook his head disgustedly. "He never goes too far from Megatron."

"But he's not challenging Starscream, either."

"Sir? What are you thinking?" Mirage asked in genuine curiosity.

"We're missing something important here," Prime replied and his optic ridges pulled down in a frown. "Something important."

Mirage's head snapped up suddenly, his optics blazing intensely. "You don't think that the Decepticon faction has fractured do you?"

"I don't know," Prime said as he stared at the screen. "I don't know."

* * *

Bluestreak was trying to balance two boxes loaded with parts in his arms as he walked down the corridor. The parts were from Ratchet for Wheeljack's newest experiment, along with a threat that if he invented something that blew him up again, Ratchet would do him serious bodily injury after he fixed him. Ratchet was still angry over the last time and was still picking fragments of concrete and metal out of Perceptor's armor.

A door ahead of him slid open and Red Alert's head poked out of the doorway. The mech looked around with his helm sparking and spotted Bluestreak. "Come here," he ordered sounding furious.

"Did I do something wrong?" Bluestreak asked innocently and Red Alert reached into his office and dropped something that screeched angrily into one of the boxes of parts. Without a word, Red Alert stepped back into his office and the door slid shut in Bluestreak's confused face.

He looked down and tipped his head to one side as Joey fought her way free of some scrap wire. "That jerk," she muttered with a murderous look on her face.

"Oh, hey, Joey. Um, are you okay? Red didn't hurt you did he? He can be a little rough sometimes, but I think he's just cranky, because he doesn't recharge much. I can take you to Ratchet if you want."

She smiled faintly at Blue's worry and shook her head. "I'm fine. Hey, who's Red's superior?"

"I guess, Prowl. Why?"

"Perv-bot put a security camera in my bathroom," she said sulkily. "When I asked him to get rid of it, he said he couldn't have a blind spot in his security system. I told him where he could stick his stupid cameras and I think I pissed him off a little."

Blue waited until she finished ranting. "We have cameras in the wash racks, too," he said and then with a puzzled look, he asked, "What's a… perv?"

* * *

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, after giving an irate Prowl the slip, were sitting in the rec room with Bluestreak and Joey. The human was sitting cross-legged on the table to Sunny's annoyance.

"So it doesn't bother you that he spies on you when you take a bath?" She demanded incredulously.

Sideswipe shrugged. "Actually, I never really thought about it. You kind of just get used to the cameras."

She shook her head at him. "You know, if I was a guy, I'd just moon his stinking cameras," she muttered, not thinking the mechs could hear.

"What's that?" Sunny asked as he nursed a cube of energon.

"Huh?"

"Mooning," Sideswipe said. "What is it?"

Her face turned scarlet and she cleared her throat.

Sideswipe prodded her shoulder, nearly knocking her over. "Come on. You gotta tell. Your job is to explain human stuff." He grinned at her and she grimaced.

"Er, well. Humans… guy humans, mostly, they, um…" Her face got redder. "'tlike," she blurted out the words running together and she stared fixedly at the table.

Sideswipe raised an optic ridge. "Why?"

"Dunno, it's supposed to be insulting, I guess…" She said, never raising her eyes from the table.

The twins exchanged looks.

* * *

Red Alert returned to his office from fetching a cup of energon. He sank into his chair and sipped at the glowing liquid contentedly. Movement on one of the thousands of live feeds caught his eye. He glanced over to see the human dragging a human-sized chair into her bathing area. She glared at the camera and then stalked out again. She returned to the bathroom with a piece of cardboard under one arm and a roll of silver tape. Without a word, she stood on the chair and taped the sign over his camera. It said:

NO FREE PEEP SHOW FOR YOU, PERV-BOT!

He scowled in confusion and annoyance. How dare she cover up_ his_ cameras! And what the frag was a "peep show" and a "perv," anyway?

He turned to get up and remove the sign immediately, when he spotted Sideswipe walking purposefully up to one of the cameras in the wash racks. He grinned at the camera and then turned and slapped his aft. Smirking, he shook his skid plate at the camera.

There was a resounding thud as Red Alert fell off his chair and then the sound of his angry Cybertronian cursing could be heard on three floors of the base.

* * *

_Author's Note: I'm back! Be afraid, be very afraid. Next chapter: who gets volunteered to infiltrate the cons base and Red Alert is on the war path. REVIEW PLEASE!_


	2. Ch2: Bargain

Disclaimer: (Does anyone actually read the disclaimers, anyway?) Ahem, this is Wide Spread Panic declaring that she does not own Transformers. Just the OC and the plot.

Author's Note: If you haven't read Are We There Yet?, you might want to before reading this story. It might make more sense. Still, here? Okay, let's go.

* * *

Ch.2: Bargain

Prowl siphoned air through his systems with a loud sigh. "Now, tell me again. What is he doing?" He asked exhaustedly. He could have been out hunting down those miserable bots who'd been breaking the rules, but _no_. He got to listen to Red Alert glitching that just made his solar cycle.

"He is shaking his _aft_ at my cameras! Every camera he passes! Him and his twin both! It is inappropriate!" Red Alert all but shouted, his helm sparking wildly. Prowl's sensors muttered a fire hazard warning at him that he ignored.

Prowl pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again. "Red Alert, as much as I would love to punish Sideswipe and Sunstreaker for something, there is no rule saying they can't do that."

A particularly large series of red sparks shot out of the right side of his head. "Then MAKE it a rule!" The security head shrieked. Prowl mentally calculated the amount of time Red could continue functioning under that much stress.

**Ratchet**, Prowl called across his private communications system, **please come collect Red Alert.**

Something in Red's head popped loudly and the bot's eyes dimmed and he fell over with a thud.

**This better be a fragging emergency! What happened?** Ratchet's irritated voice snarled back.

**Sideswipe.**

* * *

"How did I get stuck draggin' this slagger's sorry aft to the med bay? I'm off-shift!" Ironhide's voice rang out in the corridor.

Joey, sitting perched precariously on Wheeljack's shoulder, blinked as Ironhide and Ratchet passed them in the corridor. Each mech had one of Red Alert's feet and they were dragging him down the hall to the med bay. Joey leaned back to watch Red, his helm scraping the ground and still sparking, out of sight.

"I should play the lottery," she told Wheeljack happily.

He turned to look at her out of the corner of one eye and she ducked to avoid getting whacked by one of his vocal indicators. "What's the… 'lottery?'"

"Type of human gambling. Looks like today's my lucky day after all," she replied cheerfully. She leaned and yelled after the three bots, "BYE, PERV-BOT!"

"… What's a perv? For some reason all the younglings are calling Red that," Wheeljack said, looking as puzzled as someone with only half their face showing could.

"I… haven't the slightest clue what that's about," she lied with a grin.

Wheeljack stopped in front of Prowl's door and it slid open obediently for him. Once inside, he deposited her on Prowl's desk with a friendly nod at Prowl. The Autobot second-in-command stared down at the little human coldly as Wheeljack left.

She flinched under his hard gaze. "Did you have anything to do with Sideswipe's current… actions?" Prowl growled with a frown. He walked around his desk to sit down, shuffling the data pads on his desk out of the way.

Joey flinched. "What's he doing?" She asked, genuinely confused. Sides and Sunny had been hiding out from Prowl after that morning's drag race in the halls. She had figured the twins would be laying low for a while.

"For some reason, he and Sunstreaker have decided to go from camera to camera… shaking their afts at the cameras."

He glowered down at the little human and one of her eyes twitched ever so slightly. His optics narrowed as her face reddened. He waited as her face screwed up and her eyes began to tear. Abruptly, the little human burst out laughing so hard she sat down on his desk cackling. He shook his head and rubbed his helm. "I will take that as a 'yes,'" he said sourly as the human kept laughing. He shuffled his data pads again and growled at her. "Did you need something, or have you been sent from the pit just to annoy me?"

She snickered and tried to compose herself. "Sorry. Really, I didn't tell him to do that." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "I actually wanted to know if there was anything you could do about prev- er, Red Alert. He put a camera in my bathroom."

Prowl stared her down. "So?"

She blinked, not understanding how he didn't get it. "It's in my _bathroom_."

Prowl raised an optic ridge. "Yes, you said as much before. What about it?"

"Can you remove it?"

"No."

"What? Oh, _come on_! What could I _possibly_ be doing in the _bathroom_ that could jeopardize the base?"

Prowl leaned forward so that his blazing optics were uncomfortably close. "I said no. Now go away." With that, he picked up the stunned human and set her on the floor outside his office and shut the door.

* * *

Jazz swayed, his hips swinging to the music from his speakers as he walked down the hall beside Cliffjumper. The red mini-bot kept shooting his companion annoyed glances, especially when Jazz sidestepped around him and twirled with a loud hum of his systems.

"Do you have to do that?" Cliffjumper grumpily snarled as he dodged the dancing saboteur.

"Yeah. Pretty much."

A loud buzz filled the corridor and the base-wide communications array came online. Prime's voice filled the air, "**Jazz. Report to my office immediately.**" Both mechs glanced up reflexively, though the speakers were streamlined into the walls and invisible to even a trained optic.

Cliffjumper dimmed his optics in relief as Jazz turned on his heel and wandered back the way he'd come toward the center of the base. Jazz smirked and as a parting gift, turned on the bass as loud as he could without blowing his speakers and blasted music that shook the floors. Jazz laughed as Cliffjumper stumbled and cursed at him.

The base consisted of seven levels with the command center at the third level down and the officers' offices and quarters arrayed in a ring around it. The lowest level was used as storage with the next level up acting as crew quarters and the labs. The labs had at first been a level up on the same level as the med bay, but after a particularly bad explosion involving TNT and C4, Ratchet had demanded the labs be moved.

Prime's office was at the end of a corridor and closest to the command center. Jazz silenced his music, messing with Cliffjumper was good and well, but this was business. Prime was sitting behind his desk with Mirage standing at attention to the right of him.

"What's up, Boss-bot," Jazz asked and he saw out of the corner of his optic that Mirage flinched at his casual tone. He'd definitely get an audio about that later.

Prime, however, ignored it. "Jazz, I have a special mission for you." Prime stood up and his optics glowed. "We've been trying to infiltrate the Decepticon bunker for some time, as you know—"

"You want me to do my thing, Boss-bot?" Jazz interrupted with a cheeky grin. Mirage looked as if he was about to offline from sheer mortification at Jazz's behavior. Jazz was loving it.

"Mirage can debrief you on the situation," Prime said and Jazz had the distinct impression that Prime was grinning behind his face plate. "That's all. You're free to go."

Jazz practically danced out of the office, with Mirage trailing him. "You're out of line," Mirage growled. "I don't see why Optimus Prime tolerates your disrespect."

Jazz spun on his heel and Mirage suddenly found himself pinned against the corridor wall with one of Jazz's hands grasping the armor on his shoulder hard enough that the sensors in the shoulder began wailing error messages. Jazz leaned in the other mech's face and Mirage could see his own startled expression reflected in Jazz's visor.

"Your new, so you don't know _nothing_.'" Jazz growled. "But know this. The Jazz-man does _not _disrespect Optimus. Ever."

Mirage twisted out of Jazz's grasp and glared. "I've heard about you. The special ops mech everyone's terrified of. Well, I'm not."

Jazz smirked. "Sure," he said and he turned and began walking again. Jazz's loud music filled the air.

Mirage fell into step behind the swaying mech and Mirage realized his hands were trembling.

* * *

"Prowl's a jerk," Joey muttered crossly as she sprawled on Drift's chest. The red and white mech rumbled in amusement at her. He prodded her in the shoulder lazily. Drift, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, Sunstreaker and Joey were sitting in Bluestreak's quarters to hide from Prowl.

Sideswipe snorted from where he was sitting against his twin's legs. "I told you."

Sunstreaker had taken up a station against the wall with his twin and Bluestreak had been rooted off his berth by Drift. The younglings had reasoned that since Prowl was still mad at them; the best place to hide was with the innocent, i.e. Bluestreak. They had been able to locate Hot Rod and they suspected that the mech had been captured by the fritzed second-in-command. Sideswipe had cheerfully pointed out that Hot Rod was probably scrubbing floors in some lonely corridor.

"He's not as bad as perv-bot, though," she said.

Sideswipe snorted. "Yeah, right. Prowl is scary."

"He's not scary," Drift muttered sleepily, already halfway into recharge. "Ratchet's scarier. Ratchet's scary beyond all reason."

The four younglings shuddered.

Bluestreak fidgeted, his wing panels twitching nervously. "I think Ironhide's scary," he whispered.

Sunstreaker slapped Blue's leg making him jump. "Ironhide? That geezer isn't scary."

"… He looks mean. I know he's not that bad, but he _looks_ scary," Blue explained with a faint flutter of his hands.

"Prowl," Sideswipe said suddenly. "Hey, I heard Jazz saying that if you said something stupid, Prowl's CPU would crash, because all his logic circuits are tied to his battle computer and its logic based."

Sunstreaker shoved his brother over. "You're so glitched."

"Jazz said it," Sides insisted stubbornly with a pout.

"He lied."

Drift suddenly sat up, sending Joey tumbling into his lap with a yelp of surprise. "Hey, wanna have some fun?"

Joey clambered over his leg and slapped him. "A little warning!"

Drift leaned over and poked her on the top of her head. "Hush, the adults are talking."

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker leaned forward to hear what Drift had to say, as Joey chucked one of her shoes at Drift's head.

Drift ignored her as she stomped over the opposite side of the berth and sat down. "Let's see if Prowl really crashes when you tell him illogical stuff."

Sunstreaker rolled his optics. "One problem. Prowl sees any of us and he'll punish us for earlier."

Sunny, Sides, and Drift all turned to look at Bluestreak who twitched. "Come on, guys," he groaned, backing away. "I can't do something like that. I like Prowl. He's not so bad."

Sunny shook his head disgustedly. Then, he spotted Joey and grinned. Some innate instinct for danger kicked in and her head snapped up to glare at him, but he grabbed her by the back of her shirt and lifted her off the berth. "The human can do it," he declared, holding her out at arm's length lest she get human germs on him or dirty his armor.

Sides grinned. "Yeah, Prowl can't hurt you. You're too little."

She had opened her mouth to protest, but hesitated. "He can't hurt me?" She repeated. Sides nodded enthusiastically. She remembered how helpful Prowl had been when she'd gone to see him and a wicked little grin stretched across her face. "What do I have to do?" She asked and she rubbed her hands together mischievously.

Drift chuckled happily. "That's my Fluffy."

* * *

Author's note: Please read and review! Next chapter: Prowl and Red Alert are out for the count and "poor," over-worked Ratchet is out for blood or energon, whichever he finds first. And Jazz vs. Mirage. It's on. Can the bots deal with the cons when they're busy fighting amongst themselves? Remember to vote on the poll. Prowl is still in the lead so far. Tune in to find out what happens next!

–Wide Spread Panic


	3. Ch3: Prelude to Madness

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, just Joey and the plot.

* * *

Ch.3: Prelude to Madness

The risk of being found even accidentally by Prowl was what decided for Bluestreak, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Joey, and Drift to move their discussions outside. Outside the base was disguised by a hologram that made the base look like nothing more than a red rock cliff. The five conspirators sat down in the shade of the base and watched the sun bake the desert.

Sideswipe leaned forward to rest his arms on his legs and the others obligingly leaned forward too. "I have the perfect idea," he whispered.

* * *

There are days when it just doesn't pay to get off your recharge berth, Prowl reflected irritably. First the younglings, then Red Alert, and then the obnoxious little human had come to annoy him. Finally though, he had gotten to take a break. He sat at the officer's table sipping energon, but he could tell something was wrong. Jazz was sitting a little ways down at the same table and the saboteur was stiffer than usual. Mirage, sitting at a regular table, kept shooting the other mech little glares.

With the loud sound of footsteps on metal flooring, Bluestreak all but ran into the rec room with his hands cupped together, spotted him, slid to a stop, and quickly dropped the human on the table and flat out ran away. Prowl raised is optic ridges suspiciously as the little femme stood up and dusted herself off.

She grinned up at him and held her arms out to him. "PROWL!" She squealed in delight and he scooted his chair back with a frown. The high-pitched squeal had gotten the attention of every mech in the room. Cliffjumper actually turned around in his chair to see what would happen. "I will!" She exclaimed with a huge grin.

"What do you want?" He snapped at her, trying to regain his composure. Jazz was grinning at him, even though he looked just as confused as Prowl felt.

She put her hands on her hips and twisted from side to side. "Aw, don't tell me you forgot already, baby!" She exclaimed with a pout and her eyes widened. His wing panels twitched. Something in the back of his processor screamed to run away.

"Forgotten what?"

Her eyes widened in shock and her bottom lip trembled. "Don't you remember, pooky-mech?"

Jazz snorted and began choking on his energon amid laughter. Cliffjumper snorted.

"What did you just call me?"

To his horror, her eyes began to leak little streams of liquid down her cheeks. "But, baby, last night you pledged your undying love to me."

Prowl's optic twitched and he scooted back further. Jazz, Mirage, Cliffjumper, Perceptor, Bumblebee, Beachcomber and Ratchet were all in the rec room and they were all staring. "I did not!" He snapped frantically. Warnings were scrolling through his CPU. He looked beseechingly at the other mechs. "I would not!"

Joey gave a loud wailing sob that made him twitch again. "Why do you toy with my heart?" She demanded between sobs. "Last night you came to my quarters and woke me up! Baby, you got down on one knee and asked for my hand in marriage! I came to tell you I LOVE you and I accept and you act like you don't even remember?!" She wailed loudly. Ratchet lunged to his feet, his expression murderous.

Prowl's systems gave one last error message and something sizzled loudly and he fell off his chair sideways with a thud. Joey wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and walked to the table edge to stare down at the prone mech. He'd crashed with a look of absolute horror on his face. She smirked and turned only to find herself standing in the shadow of a very irate medic.

"Um, whoops?" She tried sounding hopeful.

* * *

In Red Alert's office, Drift and the twins sat and watched the whole fiasco with grins. There would be pit to pay later, but for right now it was worth it.

* * *

Jazz bit back a laugh by shoving the majority of his fist into his mouth. Ratchet was yelling at the little human that looked slightly panicky now. Apparently, for whatever reason she had decided to mess with Prowl, she hadn't counted on Ratchet being around. He watched as Ratchet enlisted Perceptor and Beachcomber to drag Prowl to the med bay. The medic snatched up the human and stomped out with a furious look and amid much profanity, human and Cybertronian.

Mirage scowled across the room at him and Jazz frowned back. Mirage was new to the base, and he had a reputation among the Autobot ranks. He wasn't all that surprised when Mirage stood and stomped over to his table. "Do things like this usually happen?" Mirage demanded sounding scornful. "No offense, but I heard that Optimus Prime's team was the elite Autobot forces. So far, I've only seen a bunch of rejects."

Jazz was on his feet the next instant with a warning growl. "What'd you say? I must have static in my audios," Jazz said.

Mirage hesitated and then squared his shoulders. "You heard me," he replied challengingly.

* * *

Bumblebee, after he stopped laughing from Prowl's little display, heard a loud crash and looked up from his energon. Mirage was climbing off the floor clutching his jaw. Jazz was looming over him with his optics blazing. Mirage snarled and tackled Jazz. The two crashed into a table, toppling it over.

* * *

_Guard duty_, Ironhide grumbled as he walked down to the brig. They hadn't even captured any Decepticons, so he didn't know why they bothered posting guards. Surely Prime could find a better use for his skills than guarding empty cells.

Raucous singing hit his audios and he slowed down his steps cautiously.

"Seventy-two cubes of energon on the wall! If one of those cubes should happen to fall, seventy-one cubes of energon on the wall! Seventy-one cubes of energon… Oh, hi, Hide!" Sideswipe trailed off as Ironhide came into view. The red youngling waved happily at him. Ironhide stared at the group of mechs in the cells. One cell housed Bluestreak and the human Joey. She nodded at him amid giggles. The cell beside theirs held Sideswipe, Hot Rod, Sunstreaker, and Drift. The cell across the hall held a dented and scuffed Jazz and the one beside it held a battered Mirage who was sitting with his back to everyone else and seemed to be missing an arm.

"What did you lot do?" Ironhide asked incredulously.

Joey laughed. "I short circuited Prowl," she declared proudly.

Bluestreak shrugged. "Aiding a criminal," he mumbled miserably and he pointed at Joey.

Drift grinned. "Putting the human up to no good and racing in the halls."

"Making the human do bad stuff, racing in the halls, and short circuiting Red Alert by waving our afts at his security cameras… repeatedly," Sideswipe explained merrily and Sunny grunted a ditto.

Hot Rod stretched lazily. "Racing in the halls."

Mirage muttered, "Assaulting a superior officer."

Jazz grinned cheekily at Ironhide. "Rippin' the slagger who assaulted a superior officer's arm off and beatin' him with it."

Ironhide nodded dully and sat down in the chair left for the guard. Sideswipe instantly resumed his off-key singing and Ironhide groaned. It was going to be a long shift.

* * *

Author's note: Thanks for reading and please review! Next chapter: With Prowl and Red in the med bay and Jazz, Mirage, the twins, Bluestreak, and Drift in the brig, the base is severely understaffed. Not a good thing, especially when the Decepticons have decided to mobilize and test the Autobot forces. The next chapter's going to be much more serious than the previous ones.


	4. Ch4: Cry Havoc

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers; I just borrow the bots for my own amusement. I only own Joey and the plot.

Loves to: Elita One, whitedino, TFSTARFIRE, RescueAngel, Tiamat1972, shimmershadow30, Meirelle, Carmilla DeWinter, blood shifter, Prime Revolver, Zarak342, Hot Rod's Girl, animaluvr3, Sapphire225, and CuriousDreamWeaver for Reviewing Are We There Yet, Story Time, and/or How Far We've Come. I really appreciate it!

* * *

Ch.4: Cry Havoc

"Perhaps you could explain why Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Drift, Bluestreak, Hot Rod, and the human have all been confined to the brig under your orders," Optimus Prime asked Ratchet as he carefully stepped back. Ratchet had turned away from running a diagnostic on Prowl and was holding the tool up in the air. Prime had learned a long time ago that even though he was the leader, he wasn't immune to the medic's temper.

Ratchet glowered up at him and then, to Prime's supreme gratitude, placed his tools on a table between the offline Red Alert and Prowl. "Would you rather turn them loose and see how many more officers they can offline? Primus, we should just sic the twins and the human on the Decepticons."

Prime chuckled. "Alright. What about Jazz and Mirage?"

Ratchet rolled his optics in disgust. "They're in the brig in separate cells so they can't beat the slag out of each other."

Prime nodded thoughtfully. "Things have been much quieter," he said with a sigh. "You do intend to let them out eventually, right?"

"Yeah… probably," Ratchet muttered noncommittally.

As Prime turned to leave, a loud siren filled the air. **"Prime!"** Ironhide's gruff voice roared over the base-wide communications. **"We have a problem!"**

Optimus was out the med bay door and pounding down the corridor to the command center before the message was over. Ratchet stared after him and then picked his tools back up. He turned to the two offline mechs and scowled.

* * *

In the command center, Cliffjumper, Ironhide and Hound had assumed Prowl and Jazz's duties and were monitoring the screens. All three turned when Prime entered the room.

"Prime, the local human military's just went on alert."

"They can't have detected us," Cliffjumper snapped grouchily.

"I told you it ain't us," Ironhide snarled back, before turning back to Prime. "Somethin's got 'em fritzed, though. They got fliers in the air."

Hound, who had turned back to his monitor, spoke up softly then. "It's not us. It's_ them_."

The other mechs turned and on Hound's screen saw an assortment of aerial vehicles displayed. Three were F-14 style jets of different colors and they were flying in a V formation. Behind them was a space shuttle and another larger jet that seemed to have parts belonging on a tank attached to it.

"The seekers, Astrotrain, and Blitzwing," Hound mumbled. "They're headed for us."

"Our energy signatures are shielded," Ironhide protested. "How could they know where we are?"

Prime was silent, his expression pensive. "They could be just making a run. We wait to see what they're up to. Still, I want everyone on alert."

Cliffjumper grinned and thrust a fist in the air. "Finally, a fight!"

* * *

"I spy something…yellow," Sideswipe said as he sprawled in the middle of the floor of his cell. Drift, Sunstreaker, and Hot Rod were crowded on the bunked berths attached to the wall.

Sunstreaker rolled his optics. "Is it me?" He guessed.

"Yep." Sideswipe tipped his head back. "I spy something… squishy."

From the next cell over, Joey yelled, "Would you hush! We've been playing this game for at least two hours!"

"Is it her?" Sunstreaker asked, ignoring the human.

"Yep."

"I spy something stupid," Hot Rod grumbled from the top bunk. He rolled onto his front and covered his head with his hands.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Sideswipe suddenly sat up. "What do you think those sirens were for earlier?"

"I already told you I don't know," his twin grumbled.

"Huh." Sideswipe pursed his lips. "I spy something… with a visor"

"It's me," Jazz called from his cell over the sound of his music.

"Are you all _glitched_?" Mirage snarled. "We are locked up! Do you not care?"

Sideswipe scowled over at Mirage's cell. "I spy something… whiney."

Mirage threw his one arm up in the air in defeat and turned his back on them all again.

* * *

"Sir," Hound said and Prime turned toward him. "The humans have put their own fliers into the air. They're trying to force the cons to land."

Prime lowered his head with a grim expression. "We all know how that's going to end," Cliffjumper muttered.

The rest of the base's meager crew had gathered in the command center, including an irate and grumbling Ratchet. Prime looked around at the faces: Ironhide, Cosmos, Beachcomber, Perceptor, Hound, Cliffjumper, Wheeljack, Ratchet, and the youngling Bumblebee. Prime knew Beachcomber and Perceptor weren't fighters and the younglings were still being combat trained, so Bumblebee probably wouldn't be much help.

"Ratchet, Wheeljack, you two—" Prime had been going to tell them to go free the others from the brig, because they would need them when a loud explosion rocked the base. Prime turned to the monitors, but nothing could be seen. Then rising like a wraith into view of one of Red Alert's countless security cameras was Megatron.

* * *

Starscream tipped his wing and swung lazily to the right with his wing mates and Blitzwing and Astrotrain following. The Decepticon air commander chuckled darkly as he spotted the pitiful human crafts flying to intercept them.

**Look how eagerly they rush to their own demise!** Starscream called to his companions.

**Almost too easy**, Thundercracker commented lightly.

**Go and greet our guests, Skywarp**, Starscream commanded. The purple and black jet cackled and blinked out of existence. He reappeared behind the human aircraft and waggled his wings at them, before firing on the closest one. The other two human jets peeled off in separate directions. Thundercracker and Astrotrain each swerved after one. **Blitzwing, go make sure the humans don't make nuisances of themselves**, Starscream said and he would have smiled if he had been in robot form.

Blitzwing laughed and swung away to seek out the human's base and level it.

* * *

The mechs and human in the brig all looked up as the base rocked to another explosion.

"Okay, what the frag is going on?" Sideswipe asked.

Jazz stood up and walked to the energy bars of the cell and tried to peer up the hallway. Another explosion rocked the base and Jazz pitched against the bars and yowled in pain as he fell backwards, clutching a numb arm. "Fraggit!"

Mirage snickered darkly from his cell.

* * *

Prime stood at the head of a line of Autobots as they faced off against Megatron and a small army of his Decepticons. Prime quickly counted heads and clenched one hand into a fist. They were more than outnumbered; most of their crew had yet to arrive. Perceptor and Beachcomber had both been given guns, but neither looked comfortable. At least, they were holding the guns correctly.

Megatron smiled ruthlessly. "Prime, it's so good to see you again," he sneered. The cons behind him snickered. He turned to look at his army. "DESTROY them!" Megatron roared.

Prime braced himself as the Decepticons charged with a battle cry.

* * *

Wheeljack dodged a blast from Mixmaster as Hound tore by him firing wildly. Ratchet cursed as Runamuck tackled him. Optimus fired on Megatron and the two dodged and feigned, hunting for weakness in each other's defenses.

**Get them away from the base!** Prime called to the other Autobots as he shot Megatron in the shoulder.

The seekers swung over the fighters, strafing the Autobots with energy blasts.

* * *

Jazz slammed against the back of his cell again. It was about the fifth time he had charged the energy bars and like the other four times, he had been thrown backwards. Jazz rubbed his helm and braced to charge again.

"Do it again!" Sideswipe jeered from his cell. There was a loud thunk as his twin smacked him in the head. "Ow," he whined.

"Would you give it a rest?" Mirage snarled from his cell.

Jazz glared. "I don't see you coming up with anything! We have to get out of here! There's somethin' goin' on out there," he snapped and he rushed the bars again. Joey and the younglings watched as the bars flared and Jazz flew backwards again.

"Whoo!" Sides yelled.

* * *

Red Alert on-lined his optics and groaned. His CPU struggled to figure out where he was. Slowly, he realized he was in the med bay. The last thing he could remember… was the twins. The twins shaking their skid plates at his cameras. He shuddered in disgust.

He looked over and spotted Prowl lying prone on the berth beside him. _What the frag happened?_ When he tried to sit up, but he found he couldn't. He was strapped down to the berth.

_Well, frag._ He slumped irritably and off-lined his optics. _Where in the pit is Ratchet?_

"Hey, bro, check it out!"

Red Alert on-lined one optic. One of the cassetticon twins, Rumble, Red decided, was looming over him. The cassetticon grinned down at him. "Morning, Autobot scum!" Rumble declared with a devious look.

_How the frag did the cons get in the base?! _His optics widened in shock. His processor whirred in confusion and his helm sparked. _What is going on here?!_ _And where the frag is Ratchet?!_

* * *

Author's Note: Please Review! Can Prime's team defeat overwhelming numbers? Will the others get out of the brig? Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	5. Ch5: Let Slip the Bots of War

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic doesn't own the Transformers, just the pet human and the plot.

* * *

Ch.5: Let Slip the Bots of War

Blitzwing swooped low and peppered the area where his sensors indicated the Autobot's base was located. Astrotrain swung past him and doubled back to fire on Cosmos, as the Autobot tried to defend the base from the air.

Ratchet and Wheeljack crouched over Beachcomber who had been hit by Runabout. The peace-loving Autobot was leaking energon from a gaping wound in his shoulder. Ratchet worked desperately to stop the leak, while Wheeljack covered the medic and the wounded from the Decepticons.

Megatron slammed Optimus Prime in the face double-fisted. Prime stumbled backwards, with his gun firing and Megatron growled furiously and clutched his shoulder and went down on one knee. Then, Starscream dove down behind Prime and strafed the Autobot leader with energy blasts, distracting him as Megatron got back to his feet.

* * *

As yet another explosion rocked the base, the energy bars flickered and Jazz (who'd charged the bars for about the fiftieth time) crashed through and slammed into the hall on his face. The lighting in the base fluxed and died along with the energy bars. Joey yelped in surprise at the sudden dark, the only light coming from the blue glowing optics of the mechs.

Jazz was heard crashing to his feet and he turned back toward them. "What the frag are you guys waitin' for? Let's move it!" He yelled.

The bots scrambled to their feet, even a disgruntled looking Mirage and followed Jazz out of the brig and into the base. Joey was clutched in Bluestreak's hands, holding onto his fingers. Every explosion sent the mechs stumbling with Jazz snapping at them to hurry.

There was a particularly large explosion and the corridor they were running in collapsed on them. Jazz spun on his heel, grabbing Bluestreak and Mirage and yanked both clear. Drift slammed into Bluestreak and he lost his grip on Joey and she went tumbling. Her head slammed into the floor and the last thing she heard was Drift's voice yelling.

* * *

The mechs fell forward on the other side of the pile of rubble that had collapsed and sealed off that part of the base. Jazz counted glowing optics, trying to make sure they had all gotten clear. He relaxed until one of the younglings stumbled into him his engine revving and hiccupping erratically.

"You okay, kid?" Jazz's voice asked.

"Where's Fluffy?" Drift's voice asked.

"I-I dropped her," Bluestreak's voice stammered hesitantly.

"Fluffy? Fluffy? FLUFFY!" Drift yelled as the other mechs looked away. Drift's hands trembled and in a tiny whisper, he called, "Joey?"

Bluestreak backed up and he laid his hands on his helm. "I-I-I'm s-s-sorry... It was an acci-accident," he moaned and he rubbed his helm frantically. "I-I'm sorry…"

Drift began clawing at the rubble frantically and yanking the smaller chunks away. Jazz dimmed his optics. "Drift, we have to go," he said quietly.

"I'm not leaving her!" Drift snarled angrily. He looked up at Sideswipe. "Help me!"

The other younglings looked away and Mirage grabbed Drift by the upper arm and pulled lightly. Drift spun on his heel and punched Mirage in the jaw. The two mechs snarled at each other angrily. Sunstreaker and Hot Rod intercepted Drift before he could attack Mirage again. The red and white mech growled as the other two grabbed him and hauled him backwards.

"You can't just leave her!"

"It's just an organic," Sunstreaker muttered half-heartedly. Bluestreak whimpered and Sideswipe put an arm around the other mech's shoulder.

Jazz clenched his hands into fists.

"You can't leave her!" Drift howled. "Please!"

* * *

Joey opened her eyes and squinted. The lights had come back on; or rather the generators and the reserve power had finally kicked in. She was sprawled on her back on the other side of the rubble and she weakly tried to sit up. Pain lanced up her shoulder making her eyes tear and she doubled over. Squinting through tears, she looked up at the mountain of rubble and felt a chill as she wondered if the others had gotten through.

She got unsteadily to her feet and swayed slightly. She probably should have stayed put, but the sound of metal feet padding on the floor made her stiffen. She limped for cover and wedged herself in a gap in the rubble. As she watched, the large metal panther stalked past and she shivered. It reached the rubble and turned and lithely slinked back up the hall.

Joey waited until she was sure it was gone before squirming out of her hiding place. She didn't want to just stay there and wait to be caught, so she decided that she would just have to find another way out. She recalled that if she could go up a floor, she could reach the command center. It had corridors that branched off in several different directions and one would surely lead outside at some point.

* * *

After walking for what seemed like forever, Joey heard a strangled metallic scream. She realized she was close to the med bay and headed that way. She peered through the open doorway and stiffened as she saw Prowl and Red Alert strapped onto berths. She spotted movement and recognized the two little mechs from before and she shivered. One was rooting through Ratchet's tools, while the other used a laser scalpel to burn Red Alert. The mech screamed in agony again.

As little as she liked the obnoxious mech, she couldn't leave him to be tortured either. She cursed her conscience and wondered if the bots would give her a decent burial if she died. Saving someone else's hide had to be worth some points on the other side, right? She had a sudden mental image of a tombstone bearing the words: Stomped to death by giant pissed off aliens. She wondered if the bots even buried their dead or if they just scrapped them for parts. An image of her dead body undergoing taxidermy so they could keep her around as a souvenir flitted through her mind and she narrowed her eyes. _I swear the ghost from The Grudge won't have anything on me if they even think about that_, she thought and then she shook her head at herself disgustedly.

She should have thought things through and tried to formulate a plan. Instead she yanked a shoe off and chucked it at Frenzy, clobbering him in the helm and knocking him off the berth. She caught Red Alert's startled optic. _If I live, you owe me one, Perv-bot!_ She thought at him.

"DECEPTICONS STINK!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and then she turned on her heel and ran like hell.

* * *

Author's Note: A short chappy, but that's because I'm wanting the next to be pretty long. Thanks for reading and please review!


	6. Ch6: Truth

Disclaimer: I do not own the Transformers, only Joey and the plot. Love to the readers and reviewers!

* * *

Ch6: Truth

Sideswipe chewed on his bottom lip with his dental plating. He was running at the back of the group with Bluestreak and Drift just in front of him. Drift's systems were still revving and hiccupping erratically with worry and stress, and Bluestreak kept whimpering quietly to himself. Sideswipe made a decision. He reached out and caught both mechs by their wrists and pulled them into a deserted corridor as the rest of the group ran on to find a way outside.

Drift spun on him with a warning growl and Bluestreak looked questioning. "If we're going to go find our human, we better go now," Sideswipe said and he pursed his lips.

Drift stopped mid-growl and stared. "We're going back?" He demanded eagerly and Sideswipe nodded.

The red mech turned to Bluestreak. "You don't have to come if you don't want to. We're disobeying orders, so we'll probably get punished for this."

Bluestreak stared down at his hands, before clenching them into fists. "I'm coming."

Sideswipe grinned. "When Sunny's not around, I get bored and explore the base sometimes. I know the corridors like the back of my hand. If we can get around to the Command Center, we can reach the corridor with the cave-in from behind."

"Why are you helping me?" Drift asked suddenly.

Sideswipe shrugged. "Hey, you're not the only one who likes having Fluffy around. Besides, she comes up with some really neat prank ideas without even realizing it."

Drift stared at Sides, before the red twin turned on his heel and ran up the corridor. Drift and Bluestreak hesitated before following him.

* * *

Their disappearance hadn't gone unnoticed. Sunny knew the minute Sides was no longer behind him, but he kept that information to himself.

* * *

More human military vehicles had shown up from a different base. Tanks and jets made a doomed attack on Autobots and Decepticons both. The Autobots tried to avoid the tiny human machines, while the Decepticons lashed out against them with zeal. Optimus Prime realized that stealth was no longer an option as he dodged a human tank's fire, and he heard the squeal of metal as one of the Constructicons stomped on the tank with a cackle.

Megatron circled around Prime, a cocky grin on his lip components. "Why do you bother trying to not hurt these annoying insects, Prime?" Megatron taunted.

"This is our war, not theirs," he responded.

Megatron simply laughed darkly. "I will make it theirs," he promised.

* * *

_Maybe_, Joey thought as she ran for her life dogged by the sound of metal feet thudding on metal flooring, _insulting them wasn't so good an idea._

She darted around a corridor and skidded to a stop. The giant metal panther thing was standing there looking as surprised to see her as she was to see it. It recovered first and hissed baring its very large and very sharp teeth at her. She wheeled around and darted into another corridor, and she saw the two little mechs point at her and turn to chase her too.

* * *

Sideswipe stumbled as a garbled transmission whispered across his communications system. **Red Alert… is anyone… there? ... help…**

The three younglings exchanged uncertain looks. Bluestreak's wing panels rose stiffly. "Do you think they're still in the med bay?" He asked.

"It's possible," Drift conceded impatiently.

"Blue, go check it out, we'll go ahead," Sideswipe said decisively and he began running again. Bluestreak took off down a side corridor alone. Drift ran after Sides.

* * *

Bluestreak found the med bay and the doors were wide open. Red Alert lay on his back strapped to a berth with multiple shallow cuts leaking energon. The security director turned his head to stare at the youngling weakly. "Cons… in the base," he mumbled tiredly and Bluestreak nodded.

Blue unstrapped Red Alert quickly and helped the weakened bot up. "We're under attack. I think the fighting's mostly outside." Bluestreak looked over at the tactician's still offline form.

Red Alert put his helm in his hands and then shook his head. With a grunt, he shoved off the berth and stood up unsteadily. "Help me… get him up," Red Alert said as his systems scrolled warnings at him and his head sparked.

Bluestreak hesitated and Red Alert growled. "Now, soldier!" He snapped as he tapped into his energy reserves.

The two unstrapped Prowl and with the tactician supported between them, they made their way for the exit.

* * *

Ratchet shot Runabout, who'd been trying to sneak up on the medic, in the head, making him fall backwards with a strangled yelp. The medic growled and turned back to Beachcomber.

The injured mech smiled weakly, energon staining his dental plates and dribbling from the corner of his mouth. "I guess, I'm not much use in a fight," he said.

Ratchet tapped his helm admonishingly, but gently. "At least you actually managed to shoot the enemy this time."

"You're never going to forgive him for accidentally shooting you in the aft that one time, are you?" Wheeljack demanded with a shake of his head as he tried to help stop the energon leaks.

"Frag, no."

* * *

Mirage glanced over his shoulder. "Three of the younglings are gone!" He exclaimed in outrage.

"I know," Jazz said.

"Well, are you not going to do something about it?" He demanded incredulously.

"No, we're going to help the others."

They reached the exit and darted out into complete chaos. Sand, dust and the reek of singed metal hung in the dry air outside and the blasts of weapons flared up randomly like little stars amid the smoke. Explosions rocked the ground and sent up showers of dirt and metal fragments.

Jazz turned to Sunstreaker and Hot Rod. "Welcome to war," he said without humor.

* * *

Joey rounded a corner and found herself in the Command Center. She stumbled and fell on her face as she spotted the large mech standing at the controls to Teletran-1 with his back to her. She looked up at him fearfully and heard the sound of running. She scrambled to her feet and turned to bolt, but was cut off by Ravage, Rumble and Frenzy.

"Hey, boss. Check out what we found," Rumble called to the big mech as he seized her roughly by the arm and dragged her forward. Soundwave finally turned around and Joey whimpered and shrank back.

"Destroy it," the Soundwave said with a dismissive gesture. He turned back to hacking Teletran-1, ignoring them.

Rumble grinned at her. "Tough luck, squishy."

Her eyes widened as one of his hands transformed into a drill.

"Hands off our squishy!" Sideswipe roared from the doorway and Soundwave whipped around to face Sides and Drift.

The two younglings snarled angrily and Sideswipe pulled his gun and Drift pulled his sword loose. "Let her go, Decepti-scum," Drift demanded and he charged.

Rumble shoved Joey at him, making him stumble and do a front flip to avoid accidentally stepping on her. He landed agilely in a crouch behind the three cassetticons and growled. Soundwave pulled his own weapon and opened fire on Sideswipe as Frenzy and Rumble both attacked Drift.

Soundwave knocked Sideswipe backwards and picked him up off the floor with one hand around the red twin's neck. Soundwave dropped him with a grunt as someone shot his wrist. He turned to see Red Alert and Bluestreak holding Prowl up between them with one arm and their free hands clutching their weapons. Soundwave calculated his odds.

"Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage return." He ordered and as soon as the cassettes were safe, he turned on his heel and ran.

**Mission successful**, he called to Megatron as he ran out of the Autobot base.

Drift practically pounced on Joey as soon as the cons turned tail. She was snatched up in his slightly too-enthusiastic grip. "You know how worried I was?" He demanded hostilely. "I thought you'd gotten squished! Don't ever do that to me again!"

Sideswipe laid a hand on Drift's shoulder. "Maybe you should ease up. I don't think organics are supposed to turn blue like that."

* * *

Megatron paused as though listening to something and then the Decepticon leader did something Optimus hadn't expected. "Decepticons! We are through here! Retreat!"

The startled Autobots watched the cons retreat uneasily. Optimus turned back toward the base and saw Prowl, supported between Red Alert and Bluestreak and Sideswipe, Drift and the human standing in the shade of the base's hologram.

* * *

Optimus called the entire crew of the base into the wreckage of the Command Center in the aftermath of the Decepticons' retreat. Ratchet was having a conniption fit, because the wounded were being made to attend the meeting as well, and some of the bots looked like they were about to drop. Prowl had finally come around and was leaning heavily on Jazz. Beachcomber was sitting on the ground in front of the twins. Joey was still clutched in Drift's hand and the red and white mech growled at anyone who got too close, though Sides didn't seem to put off by the less than friendly behavior.

"Why now?" Red Alert demanded tiredly, breaking the tense silence.

"According to Drift and Sideswipe, Soundwave was hacking Teletran-1. We must assume they managed to get whatever they were after, because of their sudden retreat," Optimus Prime declared.

The other mechs shifted unhappily with little mutters.

"They cannot just hack Teletran-1. They don't have the access codes," Prowl protested.

There was a long silence. The access codes were only known by the Autobots. There was only one way the cons could have gotten the access codes. Prime knew they were all thinking it, but as long as it wasn't vocalized…

"Someone has given the enemy our access codes, then. It would seem we have a traitor in our midst," Red Alert said, dragging the demon into the light.

Prime sighed. He knew how it would start. Little suspicions. Grudges and arguments would fuel accusations and soon the entire base would be at war. He knew it had to be stopped, but he was at a loss as to how. Once freed, it would spread throughout the base poisoning processors.

* * *

Author's note: Who's the traitor? Suspicions and accusations run amuck in the base! What did Soundwave steal from the Autobot's database? Tune in for the next chapter of _How Far We've Come_. Thanks for reading and please review!


	7. Ch7: Accusations

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, only the plot and Joey.

Author's note: Thanks for reviewing, people! Loves to: RescueAngel, blood shifter, whitedino, TFSTARFIRE, Carmilla DeWinter, shimmershadow30, Elita One, Tiamat1972, Meirelle, Prime Revolver, Hot Rod's Girl, Zarak342, Sapphire225, animaluvr3, CuriousDreamWeaver, Lady Tauricus, Quietone80, and Corona 1 for reviewing Are We There Yet?, How Far We've Come, Story Time, and/or The Deadliest Foe: Boredom (This list is getting pretty long! LOL!). And yeah, you know Mirage is going to get blamed at some point.

* * *

Ch. 7: Accusations

Joey lay curled on Drift's chest with his fingers resting hovering over her. Drift had flat out refused to let her out of his sight after the day's earlier events and she had been too rattled from her encounter with Soundwave and his cassettes to argue. So, she had spent the night with the red and white mech, trying to ward off nightmares.

She was unhappy though. When Bluestreak had walked up to her and Drift after the meeting with Prime, Drift had snarled and bared his dental plates at him startling him. She had been shocked too, until she'd realized Drift blamed Bluestreak for dropping her and putting her into danger. No amount of berating, fussing, or soothing could calm Drift down and she'd shot Bluestreak a little apologetic smile as Drift had stomped away her in hand.

* * *

Prowl, back online and irritable as ever, could feel the tension inside the base. Almost all of the crew was slated to help repair the base and the hologram had had to be extended. The humans were panicked over the annihilation of one of their military bases and the last thing the Autobots needed was to be attacked by the native organics, who they were fairly certain wouldn't be too picky about which faction they attacked. He had been monitoring the humans' global communication network, their "internet," and had discovered that the government in charge of this land mass, "the United States of America," were doing everything in their power to cover up the fact that aliens were present on their world and were currently blaming "terrorists" for the bombing of their base.

Ever since Red Alert had said what had been on every mech present's processor, the base had been far more silent than usual. There hadn't been any fights or arguments yet, but he could feel it. They all could, even the little human was far more subdued than usual. She was staying close to Drift.

He was trying to find the traitor among them, but he had no leads. Worse, Teletran-1 had crashed after Soundwave had left, corrupting the data stored there. Perceptor was working desperately to fix it, while everyone else tried to fix the base.

As much as he hated to admit it, he wanted some kind of distraction. He would have loved the twins to pull one of their idiotic stunts, to hear Ratchet yelling, to hear Wheeljack blow something up, or to have to chase down the younglings for racing in the halls. Anything was better than the tension.

* * *

Jazz and Mirage lifted a metal panel and held it while Wheeljack welded it in place as a temporary patch on the wall. Mirage's end slipped a little and Wheeljack grunted as the panel's sharp edge cut his arm a little.

"Watch what you're doin.'" Jazz growled and Mirage curled his lip at him.

"It was an accident," he snapped back.

"Easy, guys," Wheeljack mumbled uneasily.

"Mind your own business," Mirage hissed.

Jazz dropped his end of the panel and stepped up until he was in Mirage's face. "Don't tell him what to do."

Both mechs growled angrily, but Ratchet was there the next instant, pushing the two apart. "Back to work or I'll slag you two!" Ratchet warned dangerously.

Wheeljack and Ratchet exchanged a look.

_How long can this go on?_ They wondered quietly.

* * *

"We've received word from Ultra Magnus," Red Alert said as he stood at attention in front of Optimus Prime's desk. "The new arrivals are en route."

Prime stared at the data pads on his desk with their detailed bios on the new arrivals. Prime steepled his fingers and looked up at the security officer. The last thing they needed right then were more complications, but Prime nodded politely.

* * *

Joey walked down the quiet corridor by herself; listening to the echo of her footsteps and feeling particularly tiny. It had taken forever to give Drift the slip, but the overprotective mech was starting to get on her nerves. She wasn't sure where she was going until she reached the door and she stared up at it. She was standing in front of Bluestreak's quarters.

She hadn't seen him since the meeting when Drift had snarled at him. She pressed her lips together and approached the door, which immediately slid open. The lighting in the room was dimmed, but she could make out the form of a mech curled into as small a ball as a mech could on the berth. As soon as she stepped into the room, the door slid shut silently.

She heard a strange sound and realized Blue was making the sound. It was a mixture of whimpers, metallic hiccups and gasps. The sound alien and yet suspiciously familiar, except that mechs didn't cry, or at least Joey didn't think they did. She edged closer and stared up at Blue's contorted face as he made the strange sounds.

"Are you okay, Blue?" She asked and his optics on-lined abruptly, illuminating the room with pale blue light.

"Joey? What are you doing here? Drift'll be mad. He's already mad at me, but he'll be madder if he sees you with me…" He trailed off and she saw his hands were shaking. Even though he was a giant alien and far older than her, at that moment he reminded her of nothing more than a frightened child.

"Blue, what's wrong?" She asked in concern.

Bluestreak hesitated, before holding down his hand for her to climb onto. He raised her up onto his berth and curled onto his side to face her. She stared at his face and hesitantly reached out to pat his cheek, at a loss. She was trying to figure out how to comfort a giant alien.

"Wanna talk?"

"I'm okay. Really, I didn't mean to worry you. I just… I'm fine, really. Did you need something? Is everything okay?" He babbled and she realized that maybe the babbling had a purpose. It was like he was talking to distract himself.

"Blue," she interrupted gently. "You can talk to me, if you ever need or just want someone to talk to… I'm here, okay?"

Bluestreak hesitated and whined quietly. "Joey?"

"Yeah?"

"Will Drift be mad if you stay here tonight? I don't want to make him any madder than he already is." He asked in a tiny whisper and she patted his cheek.

"Nah, I'll take a can opener to his shiny metal butt if he does," she promised and she hesitated before kissing Blue on the cheek. "Go to sleep, er, recharge," she muttered with a blush and Bluestreak sighed and his optics off-lined, the strange sounds stopping.

* * *

Sideswipe sat on his berth watching his twin polish his armor. Sunstreaker glanced up and scowled at him. "Don't you have anything better to do?" Sunny grumbled.

"Who do you think it is?" Sideswipe asked quietly.

Sunstreaker paused, before resuming his polishing. "Mirage."

Sideswipe frowned. "How come?"

"He acts different."

"So you think he's the traitor just because he's different, Sunny?"

Sunny hissed. "Primus, Sides! I don't know! Go bother someone else!" He snarled grouchily and he chucked his rag at his brother's head and stormed out.

Sideswipe picked the rag up off the floor and twisted it in his hands. He had to do something to lighten the mood; he couldn't handle all the suspicion and aimless anger in the air. He threw down rag and stood up.

"Frag it," he muttered and he went to go wreak some havoc.

* * *

Prowl noticed the mural as he walked by and almost stumbled. Someone had glued various human candies to the wall to form the image of Megatron. In a frilly pink dress, a frilly bonnet, and a pacifier in his mouth.

Prowl felt one of his optics twitch and then he chuckled despite himself and walked on.

* * *

Cliffjumper slowed down as he saw Wheeljack, Ratchet, Cosmos, Bumblebee and Hot Rod standing around staring at the wall. He slipped between Ratchet and Hot Rod to see what was going on and he gaped at a mural of Starscream dressed in a fluffy bear suit made of candies. Several optic ridges rose at the mural. Bumblebee and Hot Rod snickered and then Wheeljack laughed out loud.

* * *

Prime spotted a mural composed of candies on the wall just outside his office and he and Red Alert stared. Prime chuckled and Red Alert slowly shook his head. The mural showed Soundwave in a grass skirt doing a strange dance.

"I would bet Sideswipe had something to do with this," Red Alert growled. "I will go discipline him."

Prime shook his head. "No, let him be," he said with a smile that was hidden by his face plate. "He's helping… in his own way."

* * *

Author's note: Thank Primus for Sides. I promise the next chapter will be funnier than the last few, so hang in there! Read and review, please!


	8. Ch8: The Relative Quiet Before the Sto

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, just Joey and the plot.

* * *

Ch.8: The Relative "Quiet" Before the Storm

**Prime! I request assistance!** Red Alert's unhappy voice called across the communications system.

Optimus sighed and put his data pads aside, rising stiffly. Since he'd created the murals yesterday, Sideswipe had gone on a rampage throughout the base. The officers had found Mirage glued spread eagled to the floor with some of Wheeljack's experimental bonding chemicals, Wheeljack's cube of energon had been rigged so that it blew up in his face covering him in energon, Cliffjumper had been found hanging from the ceiling by an ankle in a modified version of a primitive human rope trap, Perceptor had been welded to a wall yet again, Beachcomber had been painted neon pink, though he didn't seem to mind, and Ironhide and Hound's tires had been deflated so they wrecked when they tried to transform and go on patrol.

Prime opened the door of his office and had to grab the door frame to keep from falling on his aft. He stared in surprise at the glossy thick layer of wax on the floor.

"Hi, Boss-bot. How's it goin.'" Jazz called and he turned to see the saboteur with his back pressed to the wall so he wouldn't fall.

Cosmos chose that moment to step off the lift onto that floor and Jazz and Prime watched the mech go sliding across the floor to crash face-first into the opposite wall. "This Sides' doing?" Cosmos yelled after he peeled himself off the wall and fell over onto his back with a grunt.

"Whatchu think?" Jazz replied.

* * *

Sunstreaker looked up irritably as Sideswipe tore into their quarters. The red twin giggled and stuffed his fist in his mouth to stifle the sound.

"You wouldn't happen to know where the frag all my polish and wax are would you?" Sunstreaker demanded suspiciously.

"Um… nooo."

Sunstreaker narrowed his optics and Sideswipe grinned at him, before running for the door. Sunny snarled and leapt to his feet in pursuit. He raced out the door and saw Sides out of the corner of one optic with his back pressed to the corridor wall, but Sunny couldn't stop. With an angry curse, he flailed his arms and fell on his aft on the polished floor. He glared at his angry face reflected in the very shiny metal floor and looked up at his brother who chuckled weakly.

"You've got until the count of ten," Sunstreaker informed him calmly.

Sideswipe turned and ran, slipping and sliding on the slick floor.

* * *

Joey stretched and her hand hit metal. She grunted and opened her eyes sleepily. It took her muzzy brain a few minutes to remember she was in Bluestreak's quarters. Apparently the mech had moved around in his sleep, because she found herself curled against his neck while he lay on his back. She sat up and stared at his face, but he seemed calmer than before. She slid off his neck, with the intention of finding something to eat in the rec room, but as soon as she moved away from him he whimpered in his sleep.

She froze and turned back to him as he patted around for her, still in recharge. She sighed in defeat at the sounds he was making and held still. His fingers brushed her leg and he latched on, hauling her back onto his chest by one leg and she fought to stifle a scream of surprise. Once she was back in her spot, the whimpering stopped and he went still again.

She scowled_. I guess I'm not going anywhere for a while, then_, she thought wryly as she made herself comfortable.

* * *

Drift was frantic. He'd been looking for Fluffy for hours, yet the little human was nowhere to be found. Even worse, someone had coated the floors in wax and he couldn't get any traction. He'd switched to his alt mode, but that had only resulted in him skidding sideways and then crashing into a wall.

_Slag._

He tried to reverse and only managed to spin in circles.

_I'm going to deactivate Sides for this!_

* * *

Ratchet was thinking the exact same thing as he set foot outside the med bay and promptly fell flat on his back. He stared up at the ceiling. _Fraggin' younglings._ He tried to get up and fell on his face. He glared at the floor and his reflection glared back.

"SIDESWIPE!"

* * *

Joey looked up as Bluestreak's door opened and the red twin darted inside and tired to crawl under Blue's berth.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

She heard his helm bang against the bottom of the berth and he sat up, finally noticing her. He raised an optic ridge at her and Blue. "Frag that. What are _you_ two doing?" He waggled his optic ridges and leered at her. "Is there something I should know about? Hmmm?"

"You keep that up and you can be the next Perv-bot," she growled and she jerked a thumb at Blue, who was still deep in recharge. "He won't let me leave."

Sideswipe looked skeptical. "He doesn't look like he's holding you hostage, Fluffy one." He reached over and picked her up. Bluestreak whined and his hand shot out to seize Sideswipe's wrist. Sides blinked and dropped Joey back onto Blue's chest and the sniper instantly released him with a contented little rev. "Okaaay."

Joey shrugged. "So what are you doing in here?"

"Hiding from Sunny."

"Why?"

"Er, I might have 'borrowed' all of his polish and wax and um, used it to coat the floors in all the corridors," Sideswipe muttered with an unabashed grin. "Heh. And Red Alert's aft might be glued to the chair in his office."

"Why?" She asked again in genuine curiosity. The way Sideswipe's mind worked was truly fascinating… in the same way a train wreck was. It was horrible and disturbing, and yet you couldn't look away.

Sideswipe shrugged and settled down with his shoulders against Blue's berth. "Why not?"

She raised an eyebrow and slumped onto her stomach on Blue's chest, seeing as how escape was out of the question. "Who do you think it is? The traitor, I mean," she asked.

Sideswipe was silent for a moment and then he sighed. "Sunny thinks its Mirage. Jazz probably thinks its Mirage. Cliffjumper thinks its Mirage. I think Red Alert suspects everyone. Me, I don't know." He pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I don't want there to be a traitor."

"Me too," she said quietly.

* * *

Mirage, sitting alone in his quarters, put his head in his hands. He lowered his hands and stared at the palms of his hands. His hands clenched into fists and he lurched to his feet, his optics pale. He stormed out of his quarters.

And slid into the wall on the other side of the corridor. He growled under his breath and peeled his face off the wall.

* * *

Alone in the Command Center, Teletran-1 beeped and an indicator light flashed on and off. On the screen a small Autobot shuttle appeared entering the Earth's atmosphere for a moment, before cloaking itself.

* * *

Author's note: Sorry, about the short chapter, guys. I'm planning the next one to be pretty long. Please review! Will Sideswipe survive the wrath of the entire traction-challenged base? Want to know who the new arrivals are? Plus, Wheeljack's just full of ideas… like creating giant Dinobots. Rampage anyone? And Cliffjumper, Jazz, Mirage and Drift get into a brawl… caused by JOEY?! Who's the traitor? Tune in for the next chapter!


	9. Ch9: Not so Warm a Welcome

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, but you know that. If I did, I'd put G1 back on TV, because it's cool and I'd make them rerelease more of the G1 characters in the Universe series of toys. *Ranting* I HAVE PROWL AND THE TWINS AND I WANT WHEELJACK AND BLUESTREAK!! T.T Why do you torture me so, Has-tak? I've had far too much Starbuck's energy coffee drink if you can't tell ;)

* * *

Ch.9: Not so Warm a Welcome

Mirage glared up from his spot at a table in the rec room as Ironhide, Cliffjumper and Jazz walked in. Cliffjumper glanced over at him and nudged Ironhide. All three mechs looked at Mirage and he growled under his breath.

"Traitor," Cliffjumper hissed at him in passing and Mirage couldn't take it anymore.

He was on his feet in a quick blur of movement and he shoved the minibot backwards. "I am not the traitor!"

Ironhide shoved Mirage back with an angry snarl. "Watch it, kid."

Jazz slipped between the three with his hands up. "Easy there, we're all on the same side here."

Cliffjumper pointed accusingly at Mirage. "That fragger is a con!"

Drift chose that inopportune moment to step into the rec room. "Have you guys seen Fluffy?"

Mirage turned on him with a hiss. "If you are so keen to blame someone, why not the outsider among us?!" He yelled. "That organic is probably the traitor! It is playing us one off the other!!"

Drift growled low in his throat. "Take that back, you Fragger."

"Make me!"

Drift lunged for Mirage with a snarl and the two toppled over onto Cliffjumper. The next thing he knew, Jazz was watching Ironhide jump into the middle of it. The saboteur shook his head and waded into the punching, kicking, cursing mess to try to stop the fight.

* * *

Prowl was in the process of walking along the corridor walls, opening every door he came to as part of a base-wide mech hunt for Sideswipe. Ratchet and Perceptor were busy trying to peel Red Alert's aft off his office chair, while several others sought out the culprit. Prowl opened another door and his optics flared and narrowed.

Sideswipe was sitting on the floor propped against the room's berth deep in recharge. Bluestreak was on the berth, curled onto his side with Joey sprawled on his neck. Prowl crossed his arms and revved his systems loudly.

Sideswipe on-lined with a loud snort and Bluestreak grunted. Bluestreak sat up, tugging Joey off his neck. The two mechs stared up at the second-in-command uneasily. Bluestreak stared at Prowl and then glanced down at Sideswipe.

"What's going on?" Blue mumbled sleepily. "Oh, hi, Sides. What are you doing in my quarters?"

Sideswipe lurched onto all fours, crawling desperately for the door in a mad bid for freedom. Prowl sighed and put a foot in the middle of the red prankster's back, keeping him from escaping.

"Sideswipe," he said, "would you happen to know why the floors are covered in wax?"

"Not a clue," Sides replied glibly while scrabbling to get away.

Prowl growled. "Of course not," he muttered and he seized Sideswipe by his ankle and dragged him from the room. Sideswipe waved at Joey and Blue as he was dragged out of sight.

Bluestreak opened his mouth, but Joey held up a hand. "Hang on. Whatever you're going to ask, can you ask it after I get some chow and go to the bathroom?" She pleaded.

* * *

**I've apprehended him, Sir.**

Prime shook his head slightly. **Good. Oh, and Prowl? **

**Yes, Sir?**

**Try to keep Ratchet from deactivating him if you run into him.**

Optimus turned back to the two mechs standing at attention in his office. Ironhide, Cliffjumper, Hound and Jazz waited. Prime folded his hands behind his back.

"I've just received word from Trailbreaker's team. I need you to go out to meet them," Prime ordered. Normally such a large team would be unnecessary, but with the Decepticons stirred up, Prime wasn't taking any risks. Besides, keeping Cliffjumper, Ironhide, and Jazz away from Mirage couldn't hurt. He'd walked into the rec room earlier to find them, Mirage, and Drift trying to deactivate each other.

* * *

To say that Red Alert wasn't happy would be an understatement. He glowered at the medic and the scientist as they worked to cut his aft loose from his chair.

"You're supposed to be so attentive, so why the frag didn't you look before you slaggin' sat down?" Ratchet snarled and he clipped Red in the head lightly. The security officer growled at him.

"Perhaps one of Wheeljack's solvents would be adequate to dissolve this binding agent?" Perceptor suggested and Red Alert looked horrified.

"You will not put anything of Wheeljack's design anywhere near my aft!"

Ratchet snorted derisively. "Primus, Red. Not everything Jacks makes blows up."

* * *

Wheeljack felt his audios burn and he jumped as the ceiling above his head shook with a muted explosion. He paused, a drawing tool in hand, and had the sudden suspicion that somewhere, somehow Ratchet was plotting to chuck something heavy at his head. He shrugged it off and went back to work. On his desk was a data pad that was playing a banned human movie. Something called "Jurassic Park," which he found absolutely fascinating. He turned back to his rudimentary schematics and made a few adjustments, every now and then glancing at the movie. He winced as one particularly big "dinosaur" ate a human.

"Fascinating," he mumbled and his vocal indicators flashed.

* * *

Unmarked black vehicles were scouring the desert like so many ants from a disturbed nest. Unbeknownst to the humans in the vehicles, four aliens passed in their midst concealed by a large hologram that would have looked like a mirage wavering in the hot desert air. The large shuttle that shuddered to a stop to hover just above the desert sand also went unseen.

Inside one of the black vans, a uniformed man monitoring a screen sat up as an indicator light flickered on. He reached up to press his fingers against the headset attached to his right ear. "I've got positive energy readings." The man checked the screen. "I'm attempting to track them now. I have a lock. Skywatch mobilizing… Now."

* * *

Ironhide waited in front of the other three as the ramp to the shuttle lowered. The shuttle and the four bots were being hidden by one of Hound's holograms. Hound's optics were pale and the mech grunted under the energy strain of maintaining so large a hologram.

Trailbreaker walked down the ramp, followed by Hoist, Grapple, Blurr and Tracks. Trailbreaker grinned at Ironhide winningly. "Wow, we weren't expecting so large a welcoming committee. What's the occasion?" The large black mech asked.

Ironhide chuckled. "The cons are stirred up. Prime was worried they might try an ambush."

Trailbreaker frowned. And Blurr fidgeted. "Here? I thought the cons hadn't spread this far yet. Wow, I wonder what they're doing way out here? Hey, do you know why they're here? Have you fought them yet? I want to fight them—"

Jazz shook his head, ignoring Blurr's babbling. "We didn't know they were here either."

"Did Skids arrive safely?" Trailbreaker asked.

Ironhide, Jazz, Cliffjumper, and Hound exchanged looks. "Skids was supposed to arrive?" Cliffjumper asked.

Hoist and Grapple fidgeted. "Skids went on ahead of the scheduled launch time. He kept saying something about discovering some sensitive information that couldn't wait."

"We haven't heard from him," Jazz said.

Hound grunted. "Can we finish this discussion at the base? I can't keep this hologram up much longer," he mumbled through gritted dental plates.

* * *

"Careful," Jazz muttered as Trailbreaker and Tracks slipped on the still slick floor inside the base.

Hoist curled a lip. "What is all over this surface?" He demanded.

"Wax," Ironhide grumbled. "Sideswipe waxed the floors. _All_ the fraggin' floors."

Blurr waved a hand to get the others' attention. "Sideswipe? The Sideswipe, who, with his twin, painted the walls of the Iacon academy with murals of decapitated Decepticons? The Sideswipe who used to weld other students to the walls? That Sideswipe? He's here?"

"Yep," Jazz answered.

"Oh, Primus," Hoist muttered. "That sociopath brother of his, Sunstreaker, too?"

"Yep."

The two architects groaned in horror. Blurr just grinned at the thought of seeing someone his age from the academy again.

* * *

Joey, riding on Bluestreak's shoulder, entered Wheeljack's lab. "Hey, Wheeljack!" Joey called and her mouth fell open as she spotted what the engineer was working on. "Holy, crap! Are those dinosaurs?" She yelped and she stared up at the massive metal beings Wheeljack was working on.

He turned and his vocal indicators winked at her. "I got the idea from one of your people's movies. Aren't they great? They'll put the fear of Primus in those cons!" He chuckled to himself.

"Didn't Prowl say no more movies?"

Wheeljack flinched. "This is for purely research purposes only," he argued weakly.

"Which movie?" She demanded skeptically.

"Jurassic Park, it's really quite interesting."

She stared at the dinosaurs and then back at the engineer. She narrowed her eyes. "You did watch how that movie ended right?"

"Nah, I'll watch it later," he said with a dismissive wave.

Joey turned and whacked Bluestreak's neck lightly. "Let's go. I don't want to be anywhere near those things when they online."

Wheeljack looked offended. "They're perfectly safe," he protested.

"Uh-huh," she said doubtfully and she drummed her ankles on his armor. "let's go, Blue."

* * *

**Prime. We have Trailbreaker's team, but there's a lil' problem**. Ironhide's voice called across the communications system and surprised Prime from his paperwork.

**What kind of a problem?**

**Like a missin' theoretician kind of problem**, Ironhide said.

Prime turned as his office door slid open to reveal Ironhide and the others. "Tell me what happened," Prime ordered with a calm he didn't quite feel.

Trailbreaker stepped up at attention. "Sir, Skids left before our group against orders to relay some information he deemed too sensitive to wait."

Prime momentarily off-lined his optics and sighed. "Jazz, get Cosmos to go over records of every anomaly that's been detected around this planet. Look for cloaked Cybertronian energy signatures."

Jazz saluted jauntily and took off to find the UFO bot, while the others remained at attention. "The rest of you are dismissed. Go get some recharge."

Ironhide paused behind the others. "Prime, you think the Decepti-scum got Skids?"

Prime sighed and looked at the old warrior. "If so, he might be how the Decepticons received our codes."

Ironhide gritted his teeth. "You think that lil' slagger's the traitor?"

Prime shook his head. "Remember, the Decepticons have Soundwave. One touch is all he needs."

"Fraggin' mind-reader," Ironhide muttered disgustedly.

"If they do have Skids, then our priority is retrieving him."

* * *

Hoist, Tracks, Hound, Cliffjumper, Blurr and Grapple stepped into the corridor, slipping on the still slick floor and froze at the sound of loud thundering footsteps. They turned in time to see huge robotic lizards come running from down the hall. One's tail hit Hoist in the chest in passing and pitched him into the wall. Another trampled Grapple and knocked Tracks down. The newcomers stared in shock after the monstrosities.

"ME GRIMLOCK DESTROY!!!" The biggest one roared as it tore past.

Then came the sound of more running feet and Wheeljack went running by yelling. "WAIT! YOU HAVE TO BE PROPERLY PROGRAMMED!!"

"Wow! What were those?! I've never seen anything like them before! What are they?" Blurr exclaimed.

Bluestreak poked his head out of a door and stared after the rampaging Dinobots. The little human perched on his shoulder slapped his neck. "Told you so. Pay up," she said sounding smug. The sniper sighed and took a tiny bag of Oreo cookies from his subspace and handed them to the human.

Trailbreaker turned to look at Prime and Ironhide standing in the doorway of the office. "Is this place always so lively?"

"You have no idea," Prime muttered as he stared out of his office after the engineer. He'd have to have a little talk to the engineer about his newest creations.

* * *

Author's note: The younglings on base now number eight, that can't be a good thing. (Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, Drift, Hot Rod, Bumblebee, Blurr, and Tracks.) If you guys haven't noticed, I mostly borrow from G1, but I do take elements I like from other Transformers franchises like IDW's comics. SQUEE! If you haven't seen them, then check them out just for the art! Especially the All Hail Megatron series, because the art is beautiful… (plus they managed to make Perceptor a bad-aft. *Scary Percy is just sooo wrong*) So some things might be reminiscent of the comics, while others are from the original cartoon. Such as Skywatch. Who are they and what do they want with everyone's favorite aliens? Will Skids be rescued? Is there enough of him left to be rescued? Does anyone even remember Skids? The poor guys had, what, one line in the series? Maybe two? T.T Poor guy. And how much chaos can the newly created Dinobots cause? ;) Tune in and review! Heh, I must go to work and terrorize my coworkers now *evil grin.*


	10. Ch10: They're Just Kids

Disclaimer: Everybody: Wide Spread Panic in no way owns the Transformers; she only owns Joey and the plot.

Author's note: Sorry about the delay between updates. My lil' brother just came home on leave. ;)

* * *

Ch.10: They're Just Kids

"Let me see if I've heard you correctly," Prowl said with his arms folded behind his back and a glint to his optics. "You, because you were 'inspired,'" he paused to make air quotations with a sour expression, "created the equivalent to sparkling processors and placed them in large, heavily armored, cumbersome bodies with only rudimentary language skills and programmed them to…" Prowl trailed off to glance down at the data pad in his hands, "_do dinosaur things_? What in Primus' name does that mean?"

The engineer twitched and stared avidly at his feet; his vocal indicators flashed pink with mortification. "Er… to attack and roar and snarl—"

"Me Snarl!" Declared one of the Dinobots with a pleased expression.

Prime, Ratchet, Prowl and Wheeljack glanced at the five now calm Dinobots. Ratchet glared at Wheeljack.

Wheeljack's indicators became pinker. "I didn't think they'd—"

"Exactly, Wheeljack!" Ratchet snarled exasperatedly. "You don't think!"

Prime held up a hand before the medic could go into rant mode. "Can you control them? They can't stay here if they're a danger to the welfare of the base," the Autobot leader said.

Ratchet snorted. "Frag, if that's the case can we boot the younglings out into the desert, too?"

Prime sighed and ignored him, still waiting on Wheeljack's answer.

The engineer glanced at his creations uncertainly and shivered. _Surely_, he thought, _they can't be any worse than the twins._ "No problem," he said as he squared his shoulders.

After all, he'd survived the younglings. How bad could five heavily armored and temperamental sparklings be?

* * *

_Three Hours Earlier…_

* * *

It had taken hours and a collective effort to rid the floors of the base of the obnoxious wax. The only bright side being that Sideswipe was confined to the brig for an undetermined length of time, so there would probably be no more chaos for a while. Red Alert, his aft still black from the explosion and in an evil mood and sans chair, stepped out of his office in time to hear a certain engineer yell, "OUT OF THE WAY!"

He looked up and his mouth fell open. Bearing down on him were five monstrous things straight from the pit. The Dinobots, having only on-lined minutes ago, were simply following their core programming: Attack the Enemy. Of course, since Wheeljack hadn't gotten around to programming exactly what the enemy was they had come up with a plan all their own. Namely, if it moved, attack it until it stopped moving. Red Alert turned to run, invoking the simple Dinobot logic.

Red Alert's pained scream echoed through the halls as Grimlock sank his teeth into the officer's already much-abused aft.

* * *

_Four Hours Later…_

* * *

Mirage stiffened as Jazz leaned over his shoulder to consult the map on the screen. He and the saboteur had been appointed by Optimus to oversee Skid's rescue. Mirage was beginning to honestly despise the cocky black and white mech, which seemed to amuse Jazz to no end.

"What's that?" Jazz asked pointing to an area nearly a mile away from the Decepticon base.

Mirage scowled. "An abandoned human mine of some sort, why?" He countered irritably.

Jazz chuckled. "Hey, now. Can't we try to be friends, man?"

Mirage's optics narrowed and he growled. "I do not like you," he snarled. "I have not liked you since day one and I personally think that Optimus Prime insists on appointing us to work together as some sort of punishment for the earlier fights."

Jazz grinned. "I bug you, huh?"

Mirage growled and turned his back on the saboteur who began laughing.

"Well, pal, get used to it. Now hows about you make yourself useful and go get Hoist, Grapple, and Wheeljack and tell 'em I got a special job for 'em."

Mirage stomped out of the room and Jazz shook his head idly. There was nothing quite as much fun as annoying uppity mechs. Maybe he'd think of some kind of prank against Mirage and let it slip to Joey or the twins. He smirked.

* * *

Red Alert limped down the corridor with his data pads tucked under one arm and a scowl on his face. The door to Optimus' office slid open ahead of him and he stumbled to an abrupt halt. Grimlock's head poked out of the office and the huge Dinobot's head turned and he stared at the Security Director. One of Red's optics twitched and the data pads hit the ground as Red Alert turned on his heel and fled.

The other Dinobots and Wheeljack stuck their head out of the office and watched Red run away.

"What wrong with him?" Sludge asked the engineer, who shrugged.

"Frag if I know."

"What frag?" Swoop asked curiously and Wheeljack twitched.

"Er… that is to say…"

"Me Grimlock want know what frag is!"

"WHEELJACK! I better not have just heard them say what I think I heard them say!" Ratchet roared from inside the office and Wheeljack quickly ushered the Dinobots out into the corridor and toward his labs.

"Frag, frag, frag," Sludge and Swoop happily chanted as Wheeljack all but ran down the hall with them trotting after him. Ratchet's head stuck out of the door with a murderous gleam in his optics.

"Stop saying that!" Wheeljack wailed.

All five Dinobots thus exchanged a look and began chanting the word. Jacks saw Ratchet pull a wrench from his subspace and the engineer transformed and bailed with the oversized sparklings chasing him still chanting.

* * *

Wheeljack, a large dent in his helm and flanked by the five huge Dinobots, pursed his lips and slowly nodded at Jazz. Hoist and Grapple were mumbling together and Mirage was pressed to the wall after having been smacked to the ground by various Dinobot tails.

"It wouldn't be a problem," the engineer said with a shrug. He glanced at the two architects.

Hoist nodded. "While it's not our specialty, I think we can handle it easily… if Wheeljack can draw up the schematics."

Wheeljack rubbed his hands together. "Let's do this."

"No explosions," Jazz said quickly.

"Not everything I make blows up."

Jazz held up one finger. "No unstable chemicals, flammables or explosives."

Wheeljack pouted. "That's just being mean."

* * *

Bluestreak skidded to a halt as a furious Drift stomped around a corner. Drift snarled as he spotted Joey sitting on Blue's shoulder munching cookies. "_You_," Drift hissed venomously.

"Er, hi Drift. How's it going? You're not still mad at me are you, because—"

"Mute it," Drift growled as he stalked up. He held out one hand to Joey and she rolled her eyes. "Come here, Fluffy."

An Oreo pinged off his forehead. "Frag off," she replied with a grin.

"That isn't a request. You need to move so I can slag him."

Bluestreak took a nervous step back. "Me? What'd I do? I told you I dropped her on accident and—"

Joey held up a hand to silence Blue. She leaned forward and motioned Drift to come closer. "You beat him up and I will find a potato and I swear I'll shove it so far up your tailpipe you'll be coughing up French fries."

Drift blinked at her. "He almost got you killed!"

"It was an accident. I forgave him, so should you."

Drift sighed and turned on his heel, looking furious. "I'm going to the wash racks," he announced as he walked away.

He paused and turned to look over one shoulder at them. He smiled thinly. "Are you guys coming or not?"

* * *

"Training exercises are horrible," Bumblebee announced. He, Bluestreak, Sunstreaker, Tracks, Blurr, Drift, and Hot Rod were soaking in a mech-sized pool set into the floor of what was essentially the mech's locker-room. Joey had taken up a perch on a huge discarded waxing cloth against the wall so that she was close enough to hear and take part in the conversation, but far enough away to hopefully avoid being splashed.

Tracks snorted. "If you can not handle it, then perhaps you should not have joined the army."

Bumblebee's optics dropped to his hands awkwardly.

Hot Rod curled a lip. "Lay off, Pretty-boy. I'd rather have Shorty defending my back than you any day."

Drift laughed. "Seriously, mechs like you make me sick."

Bluestreak fidgeted and began talking to try to diffuse the situation. "Training exercises aren't so bad. I bet it would be better if Ironhide came up with some new exercises or something. He's a good instructor, but he can be kind of tough you know…"

Blurr snickered. "Frag, you talk like really fast. Why do you talk so fast? Primus, you babble a lot. Do you even stop to listen to yourself?"

"Speaking of babbling," Sunstreaker intoned loudly.

"So training exercises are like gym, right?"

The seven mechs turned to stare at the human. "What?" Sunstreaker demanded.

"Gym. It's a class they make kids take in school for coordination and health and stuff," she explained.

"Why are we listening to the organic? Primus, why is there even an organic here to begin with?" Tracks sneered.

"What did they make you do?" Bumblebee asked, ignoring Tracks.

"Dodge ball," she said and all the mechs shuddered in memory of _that_ word, "volley ball, basketball, oh, one time we got to go on a field trip and we played laser tag."

Sunstreaker's optics narrowed. "Is that like regular tag?"

She grinned and shook her head. "Not at all. See, you get these vests with little sensors that react to lasers and you get fake guns that shoot lasers. If you hit someone, the sensor beeps and they're 'dead.' The idea is to kill everyone else and not get killed yourself."

Drift grinned to himself.

* * *

Mirage shook his head in wonder.

Jazz smirked. "What do ya think of it?"

"That's your plan? To tunnel into the Decepticon base?"

Jazz grinned broadly. "Yep."

Mirage shook his head again. "But… but that is so simple…" He protested.

"Yep."

Mirage rubbed his helm. "But it can not possibly work!"

"Why?"

Mirage held up his hands helplessly. "But it is too simple!"

* * *

"What this do?"

Wheeljack turned in time to see Grimlock push a button on one of his latest inventions and the machine whirred and blasted him in face. The Dinobot stumbled backwards with an angry roar. He slammed one huge foot down on the device as the engineer ran over flailing his arms desperately. "No, don't!"

The machine blew up, knocking the engineer and all five Dinobots backwards. Grimlock staggered to his feet, his optics dim with rage.

"Me Grimlock destroy!" He raised his massive foot with the intention of smashing something else and Wheeljack's optics widened.

"No, no, no! Don't touch!"

**KA-BOOM!**

* * *

Prowl and Ironhide looked up from their conversation as the door to Wheeljack's lab blew outwards, slamming both mechs into the wall hard enough to make a dent.

* * *

Drift stepped over Ironhide's prone form and on Prowl's to poke his head into the blackened lab. Wheeljack was sprawled in the middle of the floor on his face. Drift prodded the engineer in the head with his foot.

"Hey, Gramps. I need you to make something for me."

Wheeljack groaned.

"Is this a bad time?"

* * *

Author's note: Poor Wheeljack. Will Jazz's plan to rescue Skids and infiltrate the con base work? Please, review!


	11. Ch11: Screamer

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic doesn't own the Transformers; just Joey and the plot.

* * *

Ch.11: Screamer

* * *

Cliffjumper opened the doors to the brig and glared in at Sideswipe. "I'm to tell you that if you ever wax the floors again Ratchet has promised to give the Dinobots hand tools and let them pound you into a new berth for the med bay."

Sideswipe sighed heavily. "Where's the love?"

* * *

"Laser tag?" The engineer repeated slowly as he stared at Drift. Wheeljack was in the med bay along with Prowl, Ironhide, and the Dinobots. He winced as Ratchet made an adjustment a little too roughly on purpose. The medic had made it all too clear that he didn't appreciate explosions.

"Yeah, it would be awesome for training exercises!"

Ratchet glared at the youngling from around Wheeljack's helm. "Training exercises?" Ratchet and Ironhide echoed doubtfully.

Drift nodded with a smirk. "With laser guns and laser sensor vest!"

Wheeljack's vocal indicators winked merrily. "Interesting…"

* * *

Hoist and Grapple were having fun. The two were driving a large drill on a path that would take underneath the Decepticon base and were extremely pleased at the progress they were making. Mirage was hating it. After all, how could something so idiotically simple work? Jazz, however, kept insisting that the spy would just have to trust him.

"Surely they will hear us!" He grumbled as he trudged along behind the grinder. "Or feel the vibrations!"

Jazz chortled as the other shook one foot in an attempt to rid it of mud. "They would if not for that lil' widget of Jacks," he replied and he pointed at a satellite on the back of the drill. "Jacks thought about that an' decided we needed a frequency dampener."

Mirage clenched and unclenched his fists as he tried to think up another complaint. "It is… it is still… stupid!" He snapped at a loss.

Jazz glanced over his shoulder at the spy and grinned broadly. "That sounded real clever."

"I dislike you. You-you are disrespectful!"

"Like a broken record, Miragey." He called and he swung his hips and stuttered chunks of music at the spy whose optics paled angrily.

Trailbreaker and Hound cruised around the outer edges of the base under the cover of a hologram, making sure no one was trespassing. So far, the only activity they had seen had been on the part of humans. Black vehicles had unloaded black-suited humans in the area where the majority of the battle had taken place. The humans had cordoned off the area and were scurrying around busily.

"Any idea what they're doing?" Hound asked as they passed the humans.

"No idea. They remind you of the Insecticons with all that scurrying?"

Hound snickered. "Yeah, but don't tell Joey that."

"That the name of that little human the younglings are always dragging around?"Trailbreaker asked.

Hound chuckled. "Yeah, she's kind of the base's pet. The young-bots call her Fluffy."

"Why is she here though?"

"Well, the younglings are much easier to deal with when she's around. They actually sometimes listen. Though, they get into more mischief with her around."

"Heh. Younglings."

The two traveled on in comfortable silence when they became aware of the sound of engines. They turned their sensors up and both slammed on their brakes and skidded to either side, as a single red and blue jet swooped down to pepper the ground in front of them.

"Fraggit! Where'd he come from? He didn't even show up on the scanners!" Hound roared as he returned fire.

**Prime! We're under attack!**

* * *

"**Ratchet, I need Ironhide and Prowl if they're functional. Hound and Trailbreaker have been ambushed on patrol."**

"Well, go on. You heard him." Ratchet growled irritably, and he waved the two scuffed up mechs away.

Ratchet seized Wheeljack's shoulder and forced him back down as the engineer tried to follow them.

"Us Dinobots get blow stuff up?" Grimlock asked curiously. After about five minutes with the Hatchet, they had learned to mute it and keep out from under foot or be whacked in the head with something.

Ratchet hissed and glared at the sheepish engineer. "Why am I surprised? They're your kids," he mumbled. "No, you can't go blow the Decepticons to tiny evil bits right now."

"Awww. Me Grimlock want make things go boom…"

* * *

Hound, between dodging Starscream's attacks and trying to shoot the Air Commander down, had noticed that the humans hadn't gone without noticing the firefight. The black vehicles were speeding over with reckless abandon. Having to worry about blasting the organics wasn't really something they needed at the moment.

He swerved wide and rushed past the humans peppering the ground before the vehicles in warning. The vehicles skidded to a halt or turned away. _That's right_, he thought, _get to safety!_

The humans retreated to a distance and regrouped. He had the distinct impression that their disguises weren't doing much to fool the humans.

Prowl and Ironhide charge up in alt mode and opened fire as well. Whatever had been going on in Starscream's tiny processor, them retaliating hadn't apparently occurred to him at all. Between the four of them, they managed to shoot down the Con and Hound Concocted a large holographic explosion that engulfed them all to fool the humans. Then it had simply been a matter of dragging the Con back to the base under cover of another desert-background hologram.

* * *

Cliffjumper snickered and a very pissed and severely beaten seeker glowered from behind the bars of a cell in the brig.

"Frag off, Autobot filth!"

Cliffjumper chuckled. "Yeah, I don't think I'm going anywhere."

Starscream turned his back on the minibot sulkily. A tiny smirk twitched on the seeker's lips.

* * *

"It was too easy," Prowl said sounding disgusted. "It was like he was only fighting back to put on a show."

Prime nodded. "It's highly unusual to catch a seeker alone. It's possible that the Decepticons are up to something."

Prowl nodded stiffly. "I will see to it that our guest is closely monitored."

* * *

Author's note: Next chapter: Jazz and Mirage infiltrate the Con base, laser tag chaos, and Skids. Thanks for Reading and please Review!


	12. Ch12: Laser Carnage

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic doesn't own the Transformers… are we all agreed? Good.

* * *

Ch.12: Laser Carnage

"I just don't get why I can't play!" Joey yelled with her arms crossed. She was standing below the control panel for the Autobot training room and staring up as Ironhide program obstacles for the upcoming exercise.

The big red mech shot her an irritated look. "Because you're tiny and I'll never hear the end of it if'n one of them smears you into a greasy spot."

She huffed and stomped off angrily.

Ironhide rolled his optics and turned back to the training room's screens. The eight younglings in the training room were toying with mech-sized laser tag guns and wearing laser sensor harnesses. Blurr was merrily miming he was shooting Sunstreaker in the head, until the yellow twin became agitated and slapped him hard enough that he fell on his aft.

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"Not yet, Jazz," Hoist replied from his perch driving the miner.

"How about now?"

"No, Jazz."

Mirage, walking alongside the swaying saboteur waited for it. He knew it was coming. The black and white mech couldn't_ not_ do it.

"Are we there yet?"

"Will you mute it?! You have asked that question two hundred and sixty-five times!" Mirage snarled his composure lost.

Jazz adopted an innocent expression. "Me thinks I'm beginning to _get to you_," he sang at Mirage.

"Absurd!"

"Just a little?"

"No!"

Hoist and Grapple snickered merrily and Jazz danced around the irate spy.

"Come on, admit it!" He leaned into the other mech's face and blew a kiss at him, making his stumble backwards with an angry rev.

* * *

Wheeljack looked up from his work at the sound of a tiny high-pitched scream. He leaned around his work bench in time to watch Joey dart by and throw herself under a table, with Snarl and Sludge in hot pursuit.

"LOOK! Me Sludge see squishy thing!"

"Squishy thing is mine Snarl's!"

"I do NOT belong to anyone!" She snarled at the two sparklings. "WOULD YOU CALL THEM OFF ALREADY?!" The little human shrieked at him as both Dinobots crouched down in an effort to figure out where their new plaything had gone to.

"Kids, leave her alone," he admonished. The two giant mechs looked up owlishly, before slinking back to where the other three were recharging. "You can come out now."

She poked her head out with an irritated and wary expression. Cautiously, she climbed out from under the table. "I need a favor," she muttered as she made a show of dusting herself off. "I need you to make me something."

He tilted his head to one side. "Like what?"

* * *

Mirage gritted his dental plates. He'd had to put up with the saboteur's pestering, but the two architects had announced that they were about to break through. He flinched at the sound the drill made as it grazed metal. Host and Grapple both backed the drill up and swung down. They reached around to pull welding guns from the drill's interior and the two set to work.

"Hopefully, we'll break through in some unused corridor or storeroom," Grapple called over his shoulder to the two waiting mechs.

Jazz grinned. "Be one Pit of a party if we crash through their rec room or into someone's quarters."

Mirage glared at the careless mech and rubbed his helm.

* * *

Sideswipe tugged his gun up to his shoulder and snuck around a corner, pausing to drop to one knee and peer around the wreckage to see a silhouette moving stealthily amid the smoke and dim light. Ironhide had gone all out with the simulation this time, he thought. He smirked, took aim, and fired.

The shrill squeal of a sensor filled the room. "Fraggit!" Tracks snarled angrily as he threw down his gun.

Bumblebee suddenly tore by as a small yellow flash; he used his small stature to his advantage, weaving and ducking around debris. Sideswipe fired after the minibot, but knew he'd missed.

He heard a loud thud and a scuffled and then a yell. He spun on his heel, gun raised in time to see Blurr run by being chased by Bluestreak. Sideswipe watched them from his hiding spot and then deliberately picked off both of them.

"Aww, Sides," Bluestreak muttered, but Blurr only kept running, with his sensor vest shrieking.

Sideswipe laughed at Bluestreak, but then yelped as his vest went off too. He turned to see Drift with his gun raised. The red and white mech dipped his head at the red twin, before disappearing again.

Bumblebee stalked along the outer wall of the training room, trying to keep on the lookout. He turned at a loud whoop and Hot Rod jumped down from a pile of debris and shot him pointblank. The minibot threw up his hands in defeat.

"Slag," he grumbled.

Hot Rod grinned at him. "Mess with the best," he purred in amusement.

Bumblebee spotted movement and smirked as Sunstreaker slipped up behind Hot Rod and shot him.

Sunstreaker chuckled darkly. "What was that about the best?" He demanded.

Hot Rod folded his arms and huffed.

* * *

Ironhide, watching the entire exercise, grinned to himself. The younglings had been right; this was more fun, though he'd never admit it to them. He made a note to ask Wheeljack to make more of the laser guns and sensor rigs.

He jerked as something pink zipped by him at eyelevel. His brow furrowed in confusion. His confusion deepened as the door to the training room slid open and the little pink blur zipped inside.

_What the frag?_

* * *

Sunstreaker and Drift circled in the training room, both egotistical mechs unwilling to let the other win. Sunstreaker slinked behind more debris, listening for the sound of footsteps. Drift seemed to have found himself a place to hole up.

Suddenly, the sound of sensor alarm filled the air. Sunstreaker froze in confusion. He and Drift were the only ones left playing, so the alarm had to belong to Drift, but he certainly hadn't shot the red and white mech.

He straightened, puzzled but ready to claim victory anyway.

Something pink whizzed into his line of sight. He belatedly realized it was the human. Wearing obnoxiously pink armor, a tiny jet pack, and a tiny laser gun. As soon as his processor grasped that fact, the human raised the gun and shot him point-blank.

"Woot! I win! I win!" She squealed. "I shot you! I own your shiny metal butt!"

Sunstreaker stared at the human in disbelief. He opened his mouth, shut his mouth. Then he raised his gun and shot her.

"Hey!" She snarled as her vest went off. "The game's over, you can't shoot me!"

"Yeah," He drawled. "I don't care. You're dead."

"But!"

"Not listening to you. You're dead."

* * *

Jazz pulled his gun and slinked down the dark corridors of the Decepticon base, with Mirage flanking him. They had burned into what seemed to be an unused corridor and know, they only had to find where Skids was being held. That was the plan anyway.

Unfortunately, Thundercracker chose that moment to round a corner right in front of the two Autobots.

* * *

Author's note: What do you guys think? Love to the readers and the reviewers! You guys are awesome! Please review!

Also if you're interested, I've posted some Transformers fan art for my stories on DeviantArt. The link is in my profile page. Check it out if you want to. Thanks! –Wide Spread Panic


	13. Ch13: Skids

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic doesn't own the Transformers… are we all agreed? Good.

* * *

Ch.13: Skids

Thundercracker stood in the middle of the corridor and stared at the two Autobots. The seeker opened his mouth and then shut it. He bared his dental plates and raised his arms stiffly, his arm cannons aimed steadily at them. One corner of the seeker's lips twitched upwards and he off-lined one ruby tinted optic and on-lined it again slowly.

Mirage yanked his guns up and started to take aim, but Jazz seized his wrist in a vice-like grip. Mirage turned to the saboteur with wide optics, but Jazz shook his head warningly.

"What are you doing?" Mirage hissed as he unsuccessfully tried to wrench free.

"Autobot scum," Thundercracker intoned, getting both mechs' attention. "You won't succeed in rescuing your comrade, _who's being held by the Constructicons_. Autobot Skids, _who is in the Constructicons' lab_."

Jazz off-lined one optic and on-lined it again back at the Decepticon. "You don't say," he said.

"You won't rescue him where he's being held _down at the end of the hall, you take a right and it's the last door on the left."_ Thundercracker paused and glared at them.

Mirage gaped openly. "Did he just tell us where Skids is being held?" He asked incredulously.

"I'll give you a head start," Thundercracker announced as he turned his back on them and marched back around the corner.

"Come on," Jazz ordered, finally releasing Mirage.

"We are not going to take the word of a Decepticon are we?" He demanded in horror and Jazz chuckled. "It must be a trap!"

"Cracker isn't a fighter. He'd have been a pacifist, but he joined the 'Cons cause his buddies did," Jazz replied with a dismissive wave of one hand.

* * *

**CLANG!**

"Yow!"

"You slaggin' moron!"

Wheeljack reached up to rub the side of his helm. "What'd I do?!" He yelped.

"Why do you keep leaving your junk lying around?!" The medic roared and he brandished a wrench. Ratchet reached behind him and held out his hand. A battered and terrified looking human holoform sat trembling in the palm of the medic's hand. The holoform wrapped its arms around its body and rocked back and forth.

"Er, is that Hot Rod?" Wheeljack asked warily.

"Teeth… big… sharp… teeth…" Hot Rod mumbled.

"I found him hiding under a berth in _my_ med bay. The Dinobots had him cornered under there. They wanted to _play _with 'the squishy,'" Ratchet growled caustically and the engineer shrank back from the wrench.

"Um, my bad?"

Ratchet covered his face with his free hand and growled.

* * *

Drift turned and reached over to pick up Joey. He held her lightly between two fingers and she wriggled angrily.

"Put me down!"

"How come you get a jet pack? I don't have a jet pack," the red and white mech grumbled as he prodded the little pink jet pack with a huge finger.

"I have a jet pack," Sideswipe chirped happily from where he was standing.

"It's so I can play and you morons don't step on me!" She muttered with her arms crossed.

Ironhide chuckled and he grinned down at the little femme dangling from Drift's fingers. "Frag. Maybe we oughta turn you loose with a real weapon in the 'Con base. You could at least wreak some havoc before they squished you."

"I demand a rematch! The squishy cheated," Sunstreaker snarled and he pointed accusingly at her. "Rematch!"

"You're just slagged because she kicked your aft," Sideswipe gloated with a grin.

"Rematch!"

* * *

Jazz carefully let himself and Mirage into the dark lab. Motion sensors activated the lights and Mirage jumped, unconsciously becoming invisible. Jazz reached over to where the spy had been and awkwardly patted what he thought was probably a shoulder. The spy winked back into visibility and raised his gun nervously.

"This is idiotic! We'll both be off-lined," Mirage moaned, but Jazz slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Mute it," he hissed. Jazz stepped around him and over to a lab table with mangled wreckage piled on it.

Mirage stepped closer and covered his mouth. He stumbled back and shuddered. "Skids…"

Jazz reached over and seized the mech by the shoulders. "Help me lift him."

"They… _deactivated him…"_

Jazz snarled. "He's not deactivated yet," he said. "Now help me, that's an order."

Mirage drew air into his system sharply and seized Skids by his legs. The spy's hands trembled as he helped Jazz lift the theoretician off the table.

The door slid open a second time and Hook stumbled to a stop to stare at them.

Jazz carefully, but gently sat Skids' shoulders back down and he pulled his gun and fired. The Construction dove into the room and threw himself down behind a counter. Mirage shuddered out of visibility and the Construction wheeled and snarled.

"Autobots!" He roared. "The Autobots are in our base!" He stumbled and lashed out at the air.

Jazz fired again, catching the Con in the shoulder and spinning him around. Hook slammed back against a counter and stumbled, only to be slammed back again. Mirage suddenly appeared in the Con's face and he slammed the butt of his weapon into the Constructicon's face again and again. Jazz raced forward and pulled him off Hook as the mech slumped to his knees and fell over.

"That's for Skids," the spy hissed venomously and he kicked Hook in the head for good measure.

* * *

Author's note: Sorry I'm so late updating and thanks for reading and please review!


	14. Ch14: Tipping Point

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic doesn't own the Transformers… are we all agreed? Good.

Author's note: IT'S ALIIIIIIVE! I've been trying to upload this chapter for two days and it kept refusing to let me login!

If you're following this and _The Deadliest Foe: Boredom_ too, read chapter 15 of that fic first.

Special thanks to my readers and the reviewers (for _Are We There Yet, Story Time_,_ The_ _Deadliest Foe: Boredom_, and _How Far We've Come_): Thatredcar, Hot Rod's Girl, Elita One, Trickster91, shimmershadow30, Corona 1, autobotgirl12328, D. Mischief, Meirelle, blood shifter, Pookinator, AutobotGirl6, Carmilla DeWinter, animaluvr3, RescueAngel, teotw, Lady Taurucis, Quietone80, Zarak342, Tiamat1972, whitedino, TFSTARFIRE, Prime Revolver, and Sapphire225!

Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!

LOL

* * *

Ch14: Tipping Point

Mirage, bent under the dead weight of Skids, struggled to keep up with Jazz as he darted down the halls of the enemy base, trying to reach their secret entrance. The shrill scream of sirens had filled the air and they knew their time was up. Thundercracker had reported them. Mirage knew they had to reach their entrance before the Decepticons found them and from the sound of it, the entire base was hunting them.

The Insecticon, Shrapnel, tore out of a side corridor firing at them and Jazz spun with a feral snarl and blasted the con back. "Don't mess with the Jazz-man when he's workin'!" He growled.

Mirage dodged the prone from of the fallen Insecticon and stared after the saboteur in a new light. Even though he hated to admit it, he was beginning to form a grudging respect for the obnoxious mech. _Even if he is annoying, unprofessional, and disrespectful_, Mirage thought.

* * *

Joey was huddling in her quarters wrapped in a blanket and flat-out refusing to come back out. Mainly because she was mortified at what they'd done to her and the fact that she'd actually fainted was a new source of hilarity on the base. Worse, the mechs at a loss as to how you went about reviving a human had followed Sideswipe's suggestion and had chucked her into the rinse bath in the wash racks. So she was cold, wet, and embarrassed. Bluestreak had been trying to coax her out of her room, but had given up when she'd opened the door long enough to chuck a book at him.

_Stupid giant aliens._

Unfortunately for them, they didn't realize how vengeful an angry female could be and she was determined to have her revenge on the whole base.

* * *

Drift held a tiny glowing pink object up for inspection. It was roughly the length of one of his fingers and twice as thick. He glanced up at the beaming engineer dubiously. "So what is it?"

Wheeljack chuckled. "Energon candy. It's for the Dinobots. They're having trouble with the whole obey-the-rules-or-else thing so it's a little motivator. They love the stuff, why Grimlock about ripped my arm off trying to get a piece earlier," he explained as his vocal indicators flashed merrily.

Drift carefully bit a piece of the end and his optics widened. "Hey, this is pretty good!"

Wheeljack puffed his chest out. "And it doesn't blow up." His expression suddenly became guarded. "So far." He pursed his lips and turned around to reach for some kind of weird boxy device and Drift snatched a handful of the candy and sub-spaced it.

"It's really very simple," Wheeljack said, eager to have someone listen.

"Er, gotta go," Drift blurted, before the engineer could go into a detailed and lengthy explanation, and darted out of the lab.

Wheeljack sighed heavily. Why did they always run away when he was trying to teach them something? He picked up a piece of his candy and turned it over and over in his hands.

* * *

Red Alert lifted his head tiredly from his paperwork as someone knocked on his office door. With a muted growl, he rose unsteadily to his feet and stomped over to unlock the door.

"I'm busy. What do you want?"

The youngling Drift smiled at him, before blasting him with his weapon set to the lowest setting so it stunned him. Drift grabbed the Security Officer by the feet and dragged him down the hall with mischief in mind.

* * *

Sideswipe rounded a corner and froze, making Sunstreaker bump into him. His twin shoved him roughly, but Sides only grinned. Sunny scowled and peered around him and a matching sinister grin wound its way onto his face.

There in the middle of the corridor was none other than Red Alert. At the mech's feet was a huge container of glue and a pile of glowing pink energon candies. A data pad was resting in the Security Officer's lap, it read: Go Wild. 

The twins rubbed their hands together and exchanged a look.

"Shall we?" Sideswipe asked.

"Yes, lets," Sunstreaker said as he nodded solemnly.

* * *

"Aghhhh! Not again!!"

Prowl, Ratchet, and Prime poked their heads out of their offices in time to see Red Alert, with little glowing pink things attached all over him, go running by with the Dinobots in hot pursuit. Ratchet put his face in his palm. Prime glanced at the two officers.

"Who wants to save him this time?" The Autobots leader demanded.

"Aw, frag. I'll do it," Ratchet muttered irritably. "But this is the last time."

* * *

Cliffjumper, bored out of his processor with having to guard the captured Seeker, glanced up as a loud s yell and cursing filtered through from the floor above. He growled under his breath. It was bad enough that he'd been elected to watch the con, but he was messing out on all the fun too!

He glowered at Starscream, but the Seeker was off-line. In fact, all the Seeker had done for the most part was recharge. He hadn't even been able to goad the con into getting angry.

Cliffjumper pursed his lips as another loud crash echoed from above. It wasn't like the con could get out, and what could it hurt to just take a quick peek? He smirked and tip-toed out of the brig and into the corridor.

A shadowy form slunk along the wall, unseen and slipped into the brig.

Starscream on-lined one optic. "Took your fragging time didn't you?" He snarled in his shrill growl.

"Hey, the last thing either of us needs is for my cover to be blown so soon," the shadowy mech hissed. His optics glowed palely in the shadows. The mech moved to the door and carefully overrode the lock. He stepped back to allow Starscream to step out of his cell and the Decepticon second-in-command smirked.

* * *

Author's note: what do you guys think? Please review!

Also: If you're following Sway, I HAVE NOT ABANDONED IT! The next chapter is coming soon, it's just looooong ^_^


	15. Ch15: Choices

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic doesn't own the Transformers… are we all agreed? Good.

* * *

Ch. 15: Choices

Starscream leaned over the Teletran interface inside Red Alert's office with his fiery optics glowing palely as he hacked the system. Behind him, his co-conspirator kept a careful optic on the multitude of screens and watched the chaos unfolding on the other side of the base. Predictably, the entire base had shown up to attempt to help pull the over-enthusiastic Dinobots off of the Security Officer or to just point and laugh.

The traitor's optics dimmed and his dental plates ground together. There was no going back and now was certainly not the time to feel sentimental. Sentiment was for weak fools. He squared his shoulders with a growl. He wouldn't be weak anymore.

* * *

Mirage fought not to groan at the dead weight of Skids as he scrambled after Jazz, stepping over the carnage the black and white mech was leaving in his wake. Mirage was honestly beginning to feel a little in awe of the saboteur. Jazz was a black and white blur lunging out at any Decepticons that blundered into their path with a merciless grace. The good natured mech was downright frightening in his intensity.

"Need me to carry him for a while?" Jazz asked, surprising Mirage from his musings. The saboteur was watching him over his shoulder from behind his palely glowing visor. They had stumbled to a halt, while Jazz got his bearings. Mirage took in the rigidness of the other's stance and struggled to tear his optics from Jazz's hands. They were covered up to his forearms in glowing energon.

"I have him," Mirage replied, subdued.

Jazz eyed the younger mech dubiously before starting forward again.

* * *

Joey slipped out of her room with a vague, but possibly viable plan for revenge in mind. She just had to figure out how to get the Dinobots to help her and to not chase her down to "play" with her. They could be reasoned with, or at least, she hoped they could. All of her brief encounters with the Dinobots had ended with her darting under something or having to run to one of the older mechs for safety.

They were kids though, albeit giant razor-toothed kids, so maybe they could be bribed with something. She crossed her arms and smirked darkly at just the thought of how much chaos she could unleash on the base with the Dinobots on her side. There was one little problem though.

The base seemed to be deserted. _Where the heck is everyone? _With a scowl, she stalked off to find the missing Dinobots.

* * *

Ratchet, hanging on to Snarl's tail, tried to convince the Dinobot to stop gnawing on Red Alert's head. Red Alert was certainly not helping matters. The hysterical Security Officer was thrashing and clawing at the medic and the Dinobot indiscriminately. Wheeljack had Grimlock in a headlock and was trying to keep him from reaching his weapons.

The Dinobots had captured Red Alert and had set upon him in a frenzy by the time Ratchet had caught up with them. The Dinobots hadn't taken too kindly to the medic's attempts to stop them from chewing the energon goodies that had been glued to him off. What absolutely enraged the medic though was that the rest of the mechs off duty had quickly materialized to watch the spectacle and shout encouragement.

"Hey, Ratch! Watch out for—ohh, never mind!" Sideswipe shuddered as Swoop wheeled and latched onto the medic's arm.

"Hey, you should like sedate em or something," Beachcomber added.

Or, like Ironhide, Cliffjumper, Hot Rod, and Tracks, were laughing uproariously at the sight.

Ratchet swore, as he grappled with the overgrown sparklings, that he would have his vengeance.

* * *

Joey stomped down the empty halls. She had been mildly annoyed at first, but now the utter emptiness, broken only by the sound of her own steps, was beginning to get unnerving. The base was creepy as hell deserted. She stopped as a door up ahead slid open with a whoosh. Without thinking, she rushed forward eagerly.

An unfamiliar mech with glowing red optics stepped out and she stumbled and fell on her butt as she tried to backpedal. Red optics. _Red_ optics means Decepticon, her brain supplied as her mouth gaped open.

The Decepticon, for his part, overcame his surprise much more quickly. He raised an arm and the cannon attached to it powered up with a whine. Joey stared up into the unforgiving optics and trembled as one of the Decepticon's lips quirked up.

She was too terrified to try to get up and run and a little whimper escaped her.

"Look, how this insignificant thing cowers before my might," he crooned to someone inside the room he'd left. She winced at his shrill voice. "Watch and learn how I destroy my enemies."

Suddenly, the Decepticon was slammed aside as another mech barreled out of the room. Joey's eyes lit up in recognition as the red and white youngling held the Decepticon pinned against the wall. Her heart fell though, when he simply released the enemy and stepped back tensely.

The Decepticon snarled furiously.

"Hands off the squishy," Drift growled. "It belongs to me."

* * *

Review please!


	16. Ch16: Beginning of the End

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic doesn't own the Transformers… are we all agreed? Good.

Author's note: Things are about to get a little rough.

* * *

Ch16: Beginning of the End

Joey cowered, her head tipped back to stare in disbelief at the two mechs. Her head shook slowly back and forth as Drift stepped around the rigid form of Starscream. He crouched down in front of her, his optics blazing like pale moons.

"Don't scream, Fluffy," he said, his voice low and grating and it snapped her out of her shock.

"You-you're the traitor?" She whispered in horror and she saw his optics flare and narrow.

"Would you just squish the stinking thing and let's go," Starscream hissed folding his arms haughtily.

"I'm taking it with me. It's-she's mine," Drift countered, baring his teeth.

The Decepticon rolled his optics. "Oh, Megatron is going to love this. A pet squishy running around the base. How_ sanitary_," he muttered caustically.

"How could you?" She demanded, her eyes narrowing as disbelief gave way to rage. "How _could_ you?"

Drift snarled and grabbed her roughly, hauling her into the air, kicking and thrashing. "Mute it!"

"Let _go_!" She screamed amid cursing, her voice rising shrilly.

"Shut that thing up, before it gets the whole base after us!"

"Fluffy, I'm warning you!"

"_Traitor!_"

Drift gritted his dental plates and flicked a single finger against the side of her head with a little thump. She slumped limply over Drift's fingers and his face hardened.

"Noisy little glitch," Starscream growled as he began walking.

Drift stared down guiltily at the little form in his large hand and sighed, before following.

* * *

Jazz stumbled to a stop, his shoulder sliding against the corridor wall and leaving a smear of energon. One arm had nearly been ripped loose in a brief scuffle with two more Insecticons and it hung limply at his side, clanking against the wall. Mirage was in awe. The saboteur hadn't said a word in complaint, even though he was leaking energon from various wounds and his visor was so cracked he could barely see.

_I'll never say a bad word against him again_, Mirage silently swore as he staggered along behind him.

Eerily, the Decepticons had suddenly stopped attacking. In fact, they hadn't encountered any enemies in a long time, as though the Cons were deliberately avoiding them. As they stumbled around a corner, they saw why.

Megatron stood in front of them, his optics blazing hellfire and he was flanked on both sides by Blitzwing and Soundwave. The Decepticon leader smiled then and stepped aside, his two cronies following suit.

Jazz growled under his breath, pushing away from the wall and clenching his dental plates.

"Autobots," Megatron drawled, looking amused as he watched Jazz unsteadily try to aim at him. Soundwave stepped forward and lashed out, knocking the weapon flying and slamming a fist against Jazz's helm, knocking him to his knees.

Mirage set Skids down and yanked his own weapon free, only to be grabbed from behind. He thrashed as his weapon was knocked loose, and reflexively winked out of existence, but to no use. The Decepticon's evil laughter echoed in his ears as Blitzwing kicked Jazz in the head.

Megatron held up a hand and Blitzwing and Soundwave backed off, chuckling. "That's no way to treat our guests," he admonished. The Decepticon leader stalked forward and seized Mirage by the chin, tipping his head back. "Perhaps we should send them home in pieces." Megatron grinned wildly. "Or maybe… I have a deal for you two."

"Frag off," Jazz hissed from on the ground and Blitzwing kicked him again eliciting a whine.

"I will let one of you take that," Megatron pointed at the mutilated form of Skids, "back to your base. The other will stay here and I will personally pull you apart part by part."

Mirage trembled, his optics wide.

"Which one, which… one."

The Decepticon holding Mirage cackled.

"Let… the kid… go…"

Mirage and Megatron turned their heads to look at Jazz. The saboteur was struggling to hold his head up, his visor flickering weakly. Megatron smiled.

"Such foolish sentimental weakness," Megatron sneered. He waved at Blitzwing. "Get this Autobot garbage out of my base.

The mech holding Mirage shoved him forward and Blitzwing seized Skids by an ankle and proceeded to drag him down the corridor. Mirage twisted his head, ignoring the mech holding him, Skywarp's leer. Jazz's visor dimmed right before Soundwave reached for Jazz's helm.

Mirage and Skids were tossed out of the base and sent tumbling down a dune under the glaring desert sun. Mirage pushed himself onto his hands and knees and pressed his helm to the burning sand in despair.

* * *

Megatron lifted his head as two mechs stalked down the hall toward him. The young mech, Drift, stumbled when he spotted Jazz's broken form sprawled in the hall and Megatron smiled.

"Well, if it isn't my little spy," he greeted the youngling and his second-in-command. He watched the red and white youngling flinch and his red optics flicked to the object clutched in the youngling's hand. "I hope you brought enough to share."

"It's my pet, Lord Megatron," he mumbled, his shoulders dipping respectfully.

Megatron scowled. "Get rid of it."

Drift's shoulders hunched. "It's my pet."

Megatron stalked forward, his smile disappearing. "If you insist on keeping that thing, it's coming out of your hide," he hissed.

Drift trembled and raised his chin defiantly while the other Decepticons laughed.

* * *

Joey opened her eyes, her head aching and disoriented in the dark. She was in a cramped space with smooth walls, floors and ceilings. Panic set in as her memories came rushing back. She thrashed, twisting in her prison. Suddenly, the top of her prison was lifted off and pale blue optics peered down at her.

"You-"

Drift placed the lid back on her prison to muffle the loud and enraged cursing in English and Cybertronian that filtered from the box Joey was caged in. When she ran out of breath, he lifted the lid again.

"Done?"

She flipped him off, her hair disheveled and her face red. She twisted her back to him and he sighed.

"Don't be that way."

She glared up at him, mouth opening to snap at him and stopped. One of his blue optics was shattered and trailing energon down one side of his face. Part of one of the upturned edges on the top of his helm had been broken off and energon dribbled from his lips. "What happened to you?" She asked despite herself, and then shook her head. "Never mind," she hissed viciously. "You deserved it. Whatever you get you deserve."

Drift's one optic softened. "I didn't grow up in the academy, you know," he said quietly, slipping his fingers around her waist and lifting her from the box. "I was orphaned. Grew up on the streets, stealing to survive, doing whatever I had to."

She refused to look at him as he slumped back on a berth and she took in the dim, dark room they were in. Drift stroked her shoulder and she smacked his hand away angrily.

"You learn to take care of yourself. To only care about yourself. I take care of me. I do what I have to and I'm just picking the side that looks like it stands the best chance of winning."

Her head snapped around. "And that makes it _right?!_ What about loyalty? What about the Autobots? They_ trusted_ you! Damn it, I_ trusted_ you!" She yelled, tears beginning to fall in rage. "What about the human race? What about_ me_?!"

Drift sat up, sending her tumbling onto the cold hard berth. He leaned over her, his dental plates bared in a feral manner. "Shut _up_! You're safe aren't you? You're alive! I'd show a little gratitude if I were you!" He roared, making her shrink back in shock. No matter how angry she'd been with him, how loud she'd yelled at him or what she'd called him, he'd never yelled back. A tiny whimper escaped her and he stood abruptly, and stormed out of the room, leaving her with her thoughts.


	17. Ch17: Life with the Decepticons

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic doesn't own the Transformers… are we all agreed? Good.

Author's Note: Special thanks to Chaos Knight for giving me the concept of "Cuddles" and for encouraging my insanity. So who or what is Cuddles? Read the chapter! XD

* * *

Ch.17: Life With the Decepticons

It's like evil alien show-and-tell, Joey thought grouchily as she crossed her arms. She had instigated an Ignore Drift Because He's a Traitorous Jerk plan. Of course, it was pretty hard to ignore a giant robot. Especially when dangling by the back of your jacket from the fingers of said giant robot. Two seekers and the two casseticons were sitting across from Drift at a table in what passed for the Decepticon rec room.

"So does it do any tricks?" Demanded the purple and black seeker, Skywarp. She paused her ignoring long enough to haughtily flip the seeker off. It raised an optic ridge at her. "What's that mean?"

Drift growled and jiggled her up and down in the air. "Bad, Fluffy," he snarled.

"Frag off Fragger," she snarled back as her stomach lurched queasily and all four Decepticons erupted into raucous laughter.

"Did you teach it that trick?" Rumble cackled. "It insults! How _adorable_!"

Skywarp leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands. "Hey, Cracker. Maybe I should get a Squishy, too?"

Thundercracker glowered at Drift. "See what you did?" Thundercracker muttered and he turned back to the other seeker. "You didn't take care of the last alien you wanted as a pet."

"That was an accident," Skywarp insisted with a pout and he leaned forward, to stretch one pointy finger toward Joey. Her eyes narrowed and she kicked at the encroaching digit and only managed to spin around in circles.

Rumble and Frenzy laughed and leapt lithely onto the table and walked over. Rumble nudged Frenzy. "Hey, Drift, man. Hand the femme here," Rumble called and he gestured imperiously.

"No."

Frenzy grinned. "Aw, come on, man. We'll be real careful."

Joey's eyes narrowed. _I swear if he puts me on the table with those two mini psychos…_ She sputtered as Drift paused and then dropped her unceremoniously on her butt. "I'm watching you two," Drift admonished warningly as the two casseticons stalked over.

_Oh, crap._

She scrambled to her feet and hastily backpedaled with a manic grin and her hands in the air. "Hi, there!" She yelped. The two cassettes spread out, circling her like sharks.

"Hey, bro," Rumble called out. "I seem to remember this Squishy saying something about the Decepticons."

Joey whirled around as Frenzy barked out a harsh laugh. "Something along the lines of 'Decepticons stink,' bro?"

"I, uh, meant that in the nicest way possible…"

Frenzy pretended to crouch as if he intended to pounce on her and she stumbled backwards into something unyielding. She tipped her head back to stare at Rumble as he grabbed her from behind. She screamed as the cassette hauled her easily over one shoulder. The two grinned and saluted Drift.

"Hey, Warp," called Frenzy. "Do me a favor. Get us a stick."

* * *

High above the Decepticon base, a military helicopter slowed and began to lower itself toward the desert. The military personnel on board had no way of knowing they were literally yards from the Decepticon's backdoor. What they did know was that there was a very unusual energy signature present.

The energy signature on the screen in front of her was all the young soldier, Maya, was interested in. She narrowed her eyes intently.

* * *

The purple and black seeker had suddenly winked out of existence, scaring the hell out of Joey. She was struggling to wriggle free of Rumble when the seeker appeared again and dropped a stick about three feet long at Frenzy's feet. She eyed the cassetticon warily as he snatched it up and turned to her and Rumble.

**Thundercracker, Skywarp!** Both Seekers winced as the shrill voice of their air commander crashed into their private communications. **There is a disgusting organic vehicle in our airspace. Get rid of it, now!**

Thundercracker and Skywarp lurched to their feet. "Frag. Be right back," Thundercracker muttered as both seekers left.

Drift turned back to the two cassetticons in time to see Rumble finally set Joey on her feet. Frenzy hauled back and tossed the stick to the other end of the table. Joey glared from the stick to the cassetticons to Drift.

"Fetch," Frenzy ordered, pointing imperiously.

"How about no?" She snapped, sitting cross-legged on the table. "Do I look like a dog? There is no way."

Frenzy and Rumble exchanged a look. Frenzy smirked. "Your pet is not trained too well."

"You'll never domesticate it that way," his brother added. Rumble stomped over to Joey and she squirmed uneasily. She jumped to her feet to run away, but Rumble grabbed her by the back of her jacket and dragged her across the tabletop toward the stick.

"Let me go!" She shrieked angrily, wriggling and she managed to writhe out of her jacket, making the small mech stumble.

The cassetticons eyed each other and stared down at the jacket curiously. "Did it just shed its skin?" Frenzy asked.

Rumble snarled and tossed the jacket on the floor. "Oh, gross!"

"It's not skin," Drift said with a laugh. "It's a kind of weird outer-armor they wear."

"So… it's supposed to come off?" Rumble demanded of Drift with a disgusted curl of his lip.

"Yep."

Joey glared at him as the cassettes both smirked. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Don't encourage them!!"

"What do Squishies look like without their outer-armor?" Frenzy asked and Rumble shrugged.

Drift smirked as Joey went screaming and running across the top of the table with the cassetticons in pursuit.

* * *

Maya's head snapped up as an alarm went off on the pilot's board. "What's going on?" Maya yelled. The pilot's head turned to answer and in the window a jet flashed by followed by a giant glowing red eye. She screamed as a huge hand reached for the helicopter. The engine screamed as the blades hit the giant's hand and were subsequently snapped off.

The sky tipped up and Maya was thrown against her harness as they fell. Metal screamed and groaned and smashed deafeningly. She squinted her eyes shut, teeth gritted. They'd all seen the classified files of the aliens, they had all been briefed, and they had been hand chosen to seek out the energy readings. They all knew the odds of not coming back were high, but the knowledge couldn't compete with the actual realization.

The side of the helicopter slammed into the ground and something wet splattered across Maya's face, staining her shoulder-length black hair and fair skin. She opened her eyes and raised a shaking hand to examine the red blood covering her. She turned her head and immediately, averted her eyes. One of the helicopter's blades had been bent down through the roof of the helicopter and straight through the seat beside her and the soldier who'd been beside her.

She struggled to undo her harness, but there was another shriek of metal and the helicopter tipped over. Maya tumbled to a heap on the roof. Something dripped into her eye and she found herself face to face with the pilot. His head lolled as blood dribbled up his face and onto hers. She scrambled back and the helicopter tipped upright again. She fell into the pilot's lap and whimpered. There was a metal shriek and the top of the helicopter was ripped away.

"Would you just crush it already?" Boomed a loud, annoyed voice.

"Hang on. I wanna see if any of them lived," growled a second voice.

Maya tipped her head back and screamed as a huge hand reached for her.

"If your thinking of keeping one, I'm not helping you care for it," snapped the first voice as Maya's vision dimmed.

* * *

"Drift's missing, so is Joey," Ratchet whispered. "Hoist and Grapple just reported back. Jazz and Mirage broke contact and will not answer. They were most likely captured."

Optimus Prime nodded quietly.

"That slagger Starscream must have kidnapped the kid and the girl," Ironhide growled.

"Possibly," Prowl added, "but how did Starscream get free in the first place?"

Ratchet, Prime, Ironhide, and Prowl were silent. "We will not jump to any conclusions," Prime said. "Not until we get all the information."

"Drift is the traitor!"

The officers and commander turned as Red Alert lurched into the room, wheezing furiously and his helm sparking. "I just finished checking the security records," Red Alert added in a more subdued tone. "It was Drift."

The officers turned to Prime expectantly. He was silent, with his head bowed. Even with his face covered by his mask, they could all see the pain in his optics. They all slowly averted their optics.

* * *

Mirage on-lined his optics and shakily pushed himself to his hands and knees. He reached for Skids and struggled to his feet, pulling the broken mech up with him. He turned his head to stare at the crumpled remains of some sort of human vehicle, before beginning to walk, dragging Skids with him.

He ground his dental plates, his expression pained and he whined softly. Energon dribbled from his lips.

_It wasn't supposed to be like this... It was supposed to be simple…_

* * *

Joey crossed her arms, trying to keep covered. She glared at Drift as he cackled. The cassetticons were squabbling and luckily for her, they hadn't gotten any further than her shirt and bra. The bra was what they were currently bickering over. She sighed as Rumble ran past waving her pink bra over his head like a strange flag and Frenzy in pursuit. She edged over to her discarded jacket and tugged it back on. Her shirt had been shredded beyond help.

Skywarp and a seriously annoyed Thundercracker walked back into the rec room. Skywarp sauntered over to their table and dropped a crumpled form onto the table. Joey's stomach lurched as she realized the bloody mess was a woman in a uniform.

"Fluffy," Skywarp said. "Say hello to Cuddles."

"Cuddles" woke up long enough to violently convulse and hurl all over the table.

"_Bad_, Cuddles!" Skywarp yelped in disgust with a scowl.

* * *

Stay tuned and please review. I really appreciate all the feedback. You guys are just awesome! -Wide Spread Panic


	18. Ch18: Coping

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic doesn't own the Transformers, but you guys know that. So, here we go…

* * *

Ch. 18: Coping

"What do we do now?"

Ironhide and Prowl looked from the mech who'd spoken, Ratchet, to Optimus. The Autobot leader was staring off, unspeaking; his optics dim. Optimus raised his head and looked around at the trusted loyal friends and his officers looking to him for answers. _From within…_ Optimus forced himself to straighten, to not show how deeply the news had wounded him. _One of our own… betrayed by one of our own…_ They were all waiting for him to give them the answers. To fix the problems. He couldn't tell them the truth. He couldn't tell them that he was just as lost as they were. He had to pull them together or they'd all fall.

"We defend our outpost," he said finally with a calm he didn't feel.

"What about that backstabbing, Drift?" Ironhide snarled taking a step forward, optics blazing with angrily.

"We defend out outpost," Optimus repeated firmly. Ironhide's jaw set into a thin line as Optimus turned away.

* * *

"Hey, Autobot. What's it feel like to know you were betrayed by one of your own?"

Jazz couldn't recharge. Every time he about slipped away, some Decepticon would come in to torment him. He lay helplessly on his side on a berth in a grimy cell. His current tormentor was Blitzwing. The triple-changer was leaning casually against the door frame with a small grin.

"On the bright side, you get the honor of being the last Autobot. Do you want to know what we did to that Theoretician we captured? Maybe you'd like to hear what Soundwave tore from his processor?" Blitzwing cackled. "How he screamed! You ever hear about the Combiner technology?"

Jazz stiffened. The Combiner technology had been a carefully guarded Autobot secret. The Decepticons shouldn't even know the term. It was an abstract theory, that couldn't even be proven. If Skids had cracked the secret to the Combiner technology…

Jazz trembled. He had to find a way to warn Optimus.

* * *

"Well, from dealing with the female of the species, I can tell you that they're psychotic."

Joey venomously ignored Drift as he chattered to Skywarp about keeping pet humans. She crouched next to the unconscious woman who'd been named "Cuddles." The woman had short black hair and her uniform and hair were covered in dried blood. After hurling, she'd promptly passed out again. Unsure what to do, Joey warily prodded the other woman's shoulder.

"Hey, you alive?" Joey asked, feeling sheepish as she poked the woman again.

Wild, blue eyes snapped open and in a sudden flash of movement, the woman lunged and Joey slammed onto her back with the stranger's hands clutched around her throat. Joey snarled and clawed at Cuddles' hands to try and free herself. Tears welled into her eyes.

Drift finally looked up and noticed. His hands slammed down on either side of the struggling females with a deafening thud. Drift's face lowered to their level and he snarled. "Let. Her. Go," he hissed with his dental plates bared.

The stranger's head snapped up and she screamed and threw herself to the ground, scrambling to get away from Drift's glowing optics. Joey struggled upright gasping and coughing. "Jeez, lady," Joey growled as she tried to keep her heart from slamming its way free of her chest.

Drift, however, leaned closer to the other woman, lips pulled back. His hand darted out and slammed down over the woman, trapping her against the table. "You'll have to find another pet, Skywarp."

Skywarp tipped his head with a scowl. "I like that one, though," he replied with a pout. "It's vicious." The seeker was enjoying the show far too much to protest too much, after all there were plenty of other humans out there.

Joey stumbled dizzily to her feet and lurched over to Drift. She grabbed and tugged ineffectively at his huge hand. "Drift, quit it!"

"No."

"Drift!"

"She hurt you," he snarled, turning on her.

"So did you!" She shouted, slamming her palm against his hand.

Drift's expression changed, softened. He slowly raised his hand, the woman huddling in a fetal position with her hands clutched over her head. Drift sat back down in silence. Joey edged closer to the woman, crouching down, but keeping out of strangling range.

"Are you okay?"

The woman, shivering, stared up at her with wide eyes. She glanced fearfully at Drift and then at the other mechs. Rumble and Frenzy had edged closer, when Drift had knocked down and pinned Cuddles to the table. Now they stepped even closer, leaning over the two women. Cuddles shrank back and Joey glared up at them and sighed. Frenzy had fastened her bra onto his head as a hat.

"Is it broken?" Rumble demanded.

"If it's broken, can we play with it?" Frenzy chimed in eagerly with a disturbingly intense enthusiasm.

"Would you guys go away?" Joey turned back toward the woman. "Are you okay?" She asked again.

The woman screamed and yanked her gun from her holster. Joey shrieked and hit the floor and heard the gun fire over her head. She flinched at the boom of the gun and the sound of bullets pinging off metal. She twisted her head and realized Frenzy had gotten too close and the woman was trying to kill him, but the bullets simply bounced off his armor.

* * *

Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Hot Rod, Bluestreak, Bumblebee and Blurr sat in a far corner of the rec room, sipping energon in silence. The news of the traitor had spread through the base an unstoppable force. Sunstreaker's fingers gripped his cube tightly and the corners of his lips pulled down severely. Sideswipe's head dipped and his mouth opened, then shut. Bluestreak pushed his energon aside and rested his head on his arms.

"I miss Joey," Bluestreak mumbled, turning his head to the wall.

Sunstreaker slammed his cube down on the table, sloshing energon in an iridescent puddle. He shoved away from the table and stomped off.

Sideswipe watched him go. He and Sunstreaker had taken the news in silence, but they were both haunted by the knowledge that Drift had been the one to leave Red Alert for them to torment. They were both dealing with the fact that they'd been manipulated into distracting the rest of the base. Sideswipe suddenly chucked his cube to shatter against the wall and rushed off after Sunstreaker.

* * *

Joey clapped her hands over her ears, deafened by the sound of the gun. She heard the click and opened one eye carefully. The woman had finally run out of bullets. Frenzy, not even so much as a scratch on his armor, calmly reached out and crunched the muzzled of the gun shut in his hand. He grinned at the two women as he casually yanked the gun from her hands.

Joey crouched beside the woman as she sat down heavily, her expression unreadable.

Skywarp sat up and produced a metal ring, tiny in comparison to his hand. He lunged grabbing for Maya and Joey threw herself out of the way. She heard the woman scream as Skywarp leaned over her with the ring. When he finally sat her back down, the terrified woman had the ring around her neck. Joey realized it was a collar, covered in spikes with a large loop on the back. Joey would have found it hilarious if Drift hadn't grabbed her and subjected her to the same fate. The two indignant and horrified women glared up at the mechs with useless fury.

Suddenly, the mechs all lifted their heads, their optics pale. Joey had learned from dealing with the Autobots that that was a signal that they were communicating privately. She leaned closer to the other woman uncertainly. Drift reached for her, snatching her up roughly and without warning and she heard Cuddles scream, and wondered if Skywarp had grabbed her too. Drift all but ran through the base, his feet hammering the metal floors. He raced to a featureless gray door and when it slid open, she was sent tumbling inside on the floor. She heard a shriek and turned her head to watch Cuddles tumble from Skywarp's hand beside her.

"Stay," he thundered imperiously and the door slid shut.

Joey sat up sorely and rubbed her abused ribs. Did he have to snatch her up like that? She glanced at the other woman and her scowl softened.

"Welcome to hell," she said with a tiny, mirthless smile as she tugged at her collar. She couldn't find the latch on it and there seemed to be no way to undo it now that it was on her.

The other woman glared at her. "Who the hell are you?" She demanded hoarsely, speaking for the first time. "Where are we?"

Joey crossed her legs. "I'm Joanne, call me Joey. I never really liked my first name, it's too old-fashioned," she replied with a little smile in an effort to lighten the murderous look on the other's face. Seeing it wasn't going to work, she sighed. "You were captured by the Decepticons. You know, the big metal guys? Who are you, or would you rather I call you Cuddles?"

"Maya. How do you know all that?"

Joey frowned at the look the other woman was giving her. Clearly hostile. "I stayed with the good giant aliens for a while," she said. "Until Drift went traitor and dragged me here."

"You stayed with them willingly?"

Joey flinched at the incredulous tone. "They're not all bad. There are two different factions."

"They're the enemy!"

Joey matched Maya's scowl. "You don't know all the details…"

"You're human! If they're not human, they're the enemy!" Maya snarled, staggering to her feet.

Joey stood up too, crossing her arms and stepping forward. "It's not like that. We're just caught in the middle of their war. They're not fighting us."

"What exactly do you think they're fighting_ over_ then?"

Joey fell silent. She had never really thought about it. She turned away. "They're not all bad."

* * *

The Decepticons gathered in the throne room, milling expectantly. Drift kept back, near the wall so he could watch the others. Skywarp nudged Thundercracker and laughed raucously. Starscream folded his arms and smiled indulgently at his wing mates as they bickered playfully. Soundwave stepped forward with a small nod.

"Lord Megatron," he intoned and the gathered Decepticons fell silent. Heads turned and Megatron strode into the room. The soldiers parted as he passed through their ranks and took his seat on a raised dais on his throne. His red optics travelled over his soldiers intently.

"Decepticons," he boomed and watched their optics lock onto him. "Today we move onto our next stage. The Autobot scum shall fall! This world shall be ours! And it will be the first of many! We shall reclaim Cybertron as ours!"

Drowned out by the roar of cheering Decepticons, Drift's jaw set. His hands clenched and unclenched.

* * *

Maya looked up. "What are you doing?" She snapped.

Joey glared over one shoulder at her. "I'm going to see if I can get my bra back, thank you."

"_What?_"

Joey shoved her hair back. "The two little guys stole my bra."

Maya snorted. "Serves you right, alien-lover."

Joey rolled her eyes. "Wanna help?"

"Why would I help you, you traitor?"

Joey pursed her lips. "Fine then. Stay in here. All by yourself. _Unarmed. Alone._" Joey sauntered over to the door and peered up at the huge metal slab. She prodded it. She kicked it. She reared back to kick again, and the door slid open. She paused to grin over her shoulder at Maya who looked uneasy. "Have fun."

Joey heard Maya walking behind her as soon as the door slid shut behind them. "Change your mind?"

"You're still a traitor," Maya groused.

* * *

Hound was on patrol. Optimus had stepped up the number of mechs on patrol and they circled the perimeter with five minute gaps between each one of them. He saw movement and cut his wheels toward it. As soon as her realized what it was, he transformed and ran forward, calling for help.

When he reached the battered pair, Mirage pushed Skids into Hound's arms and then the blue mech sank onto his knees in the sand.

* * *

"What do you mean you're lost?!"

"I've never actually been here before," Joey replied, shrugging off the other woman's scathing tone.

"We're going to get stepped on accidentally just wandering around," Maya muttered darkly.

"Nah. They pay a lot of attention to what they're doing. If they step on us, it'll be on purpose."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?!"

Joey stopped as she felt the floor vibrate. Maya plowed into her and shoved her angrily. "Shhh."

"Don't shush me, traitor!"

Joey grabbed her and yanked her to the wall. "Someone's coming!"

They heard laughter and Joey realized it was the Cassetticons. She darted along the wall with one hand pressed firmly to it. She felt a gap and shoved. The door sluggishly opened. She looked at Maya. "Come on!" When the other hesitated, Joey growled. "Unless you_ want_ to play 'undress the squishy…'"

Maya shoved past her into the room. The door slid shut behind them. "Where are we?"

Joey wasn't listening though. She stepped further into the wide hall on the other side of the door. She tipped her head back to stare at the glowing bars of the cells and more specifically, the crumpled form inside one of the cells. Her bottom lip trembled.

"Jazz?" She whispered.

Maya looked from her to the form in the cell. "What's that _thing_?"

"_He._ He's _Jazz_," Joey snapped, suddenly intense. Maya stepped back warily. "Jazz? Can you hear me?" She called louder, stepping closer to the humming bars. She could feel the heat radiating from them.

The black and white form twitched and the mangled head with its shattered visor, turned toward them. Dried energon covered one side of his face. "Ha… Jooo?" The words were broken and unintelligible and brought tears to her eyes. "Jooo-eee?"

"It's me, Jazz."

He twisted; one arm grappling and he fell off the berth with a painful thud. "Joooo-eee? Geeehh owwt. Gehh hepp."

Joey glanced at the bars warily and then twisted and shimmied between them. She raced to Jazz and pressed her hands against his cheek. "What happened to you?"

"Ammmm…ammbusch… Geeehh heppp.. Joo-ee. Geh, Pryyyyyyme," he groaned and one arm moved and unsteadily pushed against her shoulder. He lolled his head and his visor flickered unsteadily. "Cuuuuumbyyynuuurrrsss. Zaaa conssss gah da cummbyyynnurss…."

Maya, against her better judgment, slipped between the bars too as curiosity overcame her fear. "Can you understand him?"

"Something about Combiners?" Joey replied with a little shrug.

"Yuhhh." Jazz's head lolled and one lip quirked slightly. "Woooooos prettttuh frenn?"

"I'm Maya," she said with a slight blush, before Joey could say anything. Joey looked from one to the other and fought a smile despite her tears. Jazz, in pain and broken, was still as charming a flirt as ever.

Jazz tried to smile. "Jaaaahhhzzzz… Joooo-eee, gehh heeeppp. Tehhh, Prrrrryyyyyymm-uh. Kaaay?"

Joey pressed her palm against his cheek again. "I'll try, Jazz."

* * *

Author's note: Sorry, there's not much comedy in this chapter. I'm planning on posting the next chapter of The Deadliest Foe next. I owe the spiked collars to Chaos Knight, as well as Maya, "Cuddles."

Next chapter of HFWC: Can the girls get out of the Decepticon base and warn the Autobots? What will happen as the Decepticons launch the next stage of their invasion? Can the human race survive?


	19. Ch19: Femme vs Women

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers. I just own Joey and the plot. Maya was spawned by Chaos Knight's brain.

* * *

Ch.19: Femme vs. Women

The base couldn't be left unguarded. That was why Megatron had appointed the femme Panic to stay behind. Or, that was the reason he'd given anyway. The majority of her fellow Decepticon soldiers were of the opinion that the femme had been dropped on her helm as a sparkling. Of course, no sane con would actually tell her that. The real reason was that the femme, while an excellent medic, was completely useless as a fighter. The last time she'd tagged along, not only had she failed to hit any Autobots, she had shot Skywarp in the face and took out three of their own soldiers. The Decepticon leader was fairly certain she'd cause less damage in the base. Hopefully.

Panic for her part, was bored out of her processor. She propped her chin up on her hands as she stared blankly at the myriad security screens. The images flickered from empty stretch of corridor to empty stretch of corridor. She sighed heavily and was about to lay her helm down on the control panel and catch some recharge, when she caught movement on a screen. Her head snapped up to stare. With a deft gesture, the screens converged into one big screen. On it, two tiny shapes moved along the wall of a corridor. Another gesture and the image zoomed in.

Panic grinned viciously as she realized the intruders were organics. As far as she knew Starscream kept some organics for experimental engineering, but he was the only one who kept the nasty little creatures. She and the Second-in-Command had never gotten along and the idea of irritating him by squishing two of his little monstrosities was highly appealing. Chuckling darkly, the blue and black femme rose from her chair and stalked off to go deal with a pest problem.

* * *

Maya had her arms crossed, a severe look on her face. "We've already been this way."

Joey cast a disparaging look over one shoulder at the other women. She raised an eyebrow. "No, we haven't."

Maya coughed. "I think we have."

"The corridors all look the same. How could you possibly know we've been here before?" Joey snapped, crossing her own arms and glaring at Maya challengingly.

Maya snorted and stepped around Joey. Without a word, she bent and picked up something. With a smirk, the black-haired woman held up a blue ink pen. She wagged it in the air under Joey's nose.

"Er…"

"I left a path marker," she sneered triumphantly.

Joey opened her mouth, but vibrations from down the hall stopped her. Both women looked up as a blue Decepticon raced around the corner toward them. On her forearms, long glowing blades appeared.

The Decepticon cackled. "Come to Panic, little abominations!"

Both women gaped. "Run!" Joey screamed and for once, Maya didn't argue with her.

* * *

"Suction!" Ratchet roared, the red and white medic a blur of movement, as he moved around the broken form on the table. Wheeljack hurried around, snatching tools and passing them on and trying to keep Skids from bleeding out all of his energon. Wheeljack used a small vacuum tool to suck away the energon from the area Ratchet was trying to patch. Behind them, Perceptor did his best to stabilize Mirage's systems and replenish the spy's energon levels. Mirage moaned, struggling.

Ratchet's head snapped around and he chucked a tool at the scientist's head. "I TOLD you to disable his sensors! I shouldn't have to tell you twice! If I have to tell you again, you'll be the one on the table!" He shouted. "Get me another fragging wrench!" The medic snarled at Wheeljack, who rushed off to do as he was told.

* * *

"Prime, the human military base just went on full alert," Red Alert said.

Optimus Prime stared up bleakly at the Security Officer. The mech was standing stiffly in front of his desk with his arms folded behind him, his expression grim. "Any sign of the cause?" Optimus asked, afraid he knew the answer.

Red Alert bit his lip and looked away. "Unfortunately." He stalked past his commander and activated a screen. In plain view and flying low, the entire Decepticon force was rapidly approaching the human settlement. The human's wouldn't stand a chance.

Optimus was faced with a choice. Cut off the Decepticons and try to save the humans or stay and guard their base.

* * *

"Attention Autobots," boomed Optimus' voice over the base's communications. Sunstreaker looked up reflexively, his expression darkening. Sideswipe looked curious as he stepped up behind his twin.

Sunstreaker snorted. "What now?"

* * *

"Attention all Autobots. The Decepticons have mobilized." Bumblebee, Hot Rod, and Blurr paused in the midst of a training exercise. Ironhide cracked his knuckles.

"Fraggin' Cons!" Ironhide boomed.

Hot Rod smirked and Bumblebee and Blurr exchanged uncertain looks.

* * *

Cliffjumper and Trailbreaker looked up from their energon. "Prepare to roll out!" Trailbreaker glanced over at Beachcomber and Hound sitting at another table. Cliffjumper slammed his fist down on the table and lurched to his feet.

"Finally!" The red minibot crowed.

* * *

Thundercracker scowled as he slipped back into the Decepticon base. It would be his head if Megatron found out he was helping Starscream. He was more than a little worried about the Air Commander's plan. Apparently, Starscream had some type of experimental weapon hid in his lab and he planned to eliminate Megatron during the cross-fire. The problem with his plan being, that if Megatron saw the weapon, he might become suspicious. So, the Air Commander had arranged for Thundercracker to double back and retrieve the weapon for him.

He knew the femme Panic would be on guard duty, but he wasn't all that worried about it. She was easy enough to distract.

The minute he stepped into the base, he knew something wasn't right. His suspicion was confirmed when with a scream, the two pet humans ran past him with their little arms and legs pumping. He raised an optic ridge. He didn't have to wonder about their terror long though, with a cackle, Panic tore past in pursuit. Thundercracker pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers, and then with a sigh, ran after Panic to save the humans.

* * *

Author's note: Next up: War.

Once again, thank you everyone who read and reviews. And the poll for the next chapter of The Deadliest Foe is up on my profile if you want to vote.


	20. Ch20: War

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic doesn't own Transformers, but you all knew that.

* * *

Ch.20: War

Sideswipe grinned up the line at the twin brother. Sunstreaker didn't return the look though; the yellow warrior youngling was staring straight ahead. Reluctantly, Sideswipe turned his optics to the front. On both sides of him a line of Autobots stood. The entire ranks, except for Perceptor, who'd been appointed to stay and look after the injured Skids and Mirage and the missing Jazz, were present. Cosmos, Blurr, Hot Rod, Trailbreaker, Cliffjumper, Sideswipe, Hound, Bluestreak, Bumblebee, Sunstreaker, Ironhide, Grapple, Hook, Tracks, and Blurr formed the front lines with the Dinobots milling just behind them. In front the line of soldiers stood Optimus Prime flanked by Ratchet, Prowl, Wheeljack, and Red Alert. The Autobots stood in front of the human settlement, blocking the Decepticon advance. They had had to rush to arrive in time to cut off the Decepticons and oddly enough, it had seemed like the Cons had been in no particular hurry.

The humans were in a panic, their vehicles streaming from the town and speeding in the opposite direction. Their military was scrambling to mobilize for a strike. Sideswipe hoped the little humans didn't get in the way.

Megatron was the first to crest the hill in front of them. The setting sun glinted off the Decepticon leader's helm and his optics glowed red-white. Sideswipe saw Sunstreaker lean forward, his dental plating bared and his fists clenched.

"Frenzy's helm…" Bluestreak muttered suddenly as the Autobots watched the Decepticons approach at a leisurely pace.

Sideswipe looked over at the sniper and saw that he was trembling. Sideswipe glanced at the cassetticon and he hissed as he noticed the tiny cassetticon was wearing a pink human garment on his helm. Sideswipe suddenly remembered him and Hot Rod getting bored and venturing into Joey's room to look for something to amuse themselves with. They had found her clothing and had been trying to figure out the purpose of some of the garments when the human had walked in and found them. He distinctly remembered Joey having several such garments and he growled.

Megatron raised an arm and his army came to a stop. The Decepticon smiled eerily at the Autobots, before saying, "DESTROY THEM!"

With a roar, the Decepticons charged.

* * *

Thundercracker slipped to the quarters he shared with Skywarp and Starscream. Connected to their room was a second room that Starscream used as a lab. Thundercracker despised the lab. It stunk of the little humans he kept for his experiments. A few of the stronger ones lifted their heads and stared fearfully at him from their cages and he avoided looking at them. He headed toward a pile of clutter in the corner and dug until he found a large box at the bottom and opened it. Inside was a large prototype weapon designed to facilitate Ore-13. He tucked it under one arm and headed back out of the lab. He paused in the middle of the room, thought about the organics in their cages and then the little females being hunted by Panic. With a growl, he turned toward Skywarp's corner of the room.

Skywarp had an intense love for "trophies." His trophies were parts he'd personally ripped from various Autobots. Thundercracker scanned the clutter and snatched up a hubcap that had been polished religiously. With a dark chuckle, he turned on his heel and darted down the corridor to find Panic and the humans.

* * *

"Heeeeere little squishieeees," drawled the blue and black femme as she stalked up the hall, the glowing blades on her wrists flashing.

Joey and Maya edged further back into the shadow of a column. "She's going to find us here," Maya hissed and Joey shot her a filthy look.

"Unless you want to make a run for it past _her_," Joey whispered, "shut up."

Maya glowered, but both women were suddenly lit up by a purple glow. They both craned their heads back in unison as Panic loomed around the column and grinned down at them. "_Heeeeere's Panic!_"

"GAH!" Joey yelped and both of them slowly backed up. "Oh, crap. Oh, crap…"

"I blame you," Maya wailed. "This is all your fault!"

Panic cackled and raised one foot, preparing to stomp on the cornered girls, when from out of nowhere a hubcap went rolling past. The femme's head turned to stare intently after the hubcap. The femme suddenly shuddered violently and snarled. With a shriek, she took off after the hubcap on all fours.

Both women gaped. "It's a giant alien… with ADHD?" Maya asked incredulously and Joey nodded numbly.

Thundercracker tapped his foot impatiently, scaring both women. Joey stared up at him and he pursed his lips and glowered severely at them. "Well? That won't keep her busy for long," he said.

"Why are you helping us?" Maya asked, backing away from the seeker.

Thundercracker shook his head at them. "Pit if I know," he muttered quietly. He stared down at the wary and curious females and growled. "Suffice it to say that some of us are _tired_ of this war. You can't even begin to imagine what it's like to fight for _thousands_ of years in a war that most of us have forgotten the reason for," he said and then he made a loud annoyed sound. "Why the frag am I telling you this? It's not like you fraggers understand or care." He stooped and seized both women and they yelped in surprise. He stomped off through the halls.

Joey slammed her fist against his hand. "What are you going to do with us?"

Thundercracker glowered down at her, before heading for a large door and opening it. Bright sunlight temporarily blinded the women as Thundercracker squatted and set both of them down in the sand. "Shoo, go do… whatever squishies do." He took the gun from under one arm and leapt into the air, transforming around the weapon and leaving the two women alone in the middle of the desert.

"…. Thank you!" Joey shrieked after the seeker. In the direction he'd headed, they could hear the distant sounds of explosions. Joey sighed and took off in the direction of the fighting at a jog.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Maya yelped and Joey hesitated.

She pursed her lips at the black haired woman. "I told Jazz I'd get help," she yelled back. "Where there's fighting, there'll be Autobots."

Maya ran over as Joey started jogging again. "Are you crazy?! We want to stay away from the giant aliens—especially when they're fighting!" Maya snapped, grabbing Joey and pulling her to a halt.

Joey lurched backwards, wrenching her arm free. "I gave Jazz my word! He needs help!" Joey leaned in Maya's face. "I don't care if you come with me or not. I'm going to go find help."

Maya scowled and watched Joey turn her back on her and started off, her back rigid. "Oh, hell," Maya grumbled and she started after the brunette.

* * *

Thanks for reading and please review!


	21. Ch21: Incoming

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic doesn't own Transformers, but you all knew that. The OCs belong to me, except for Maya, Knight, Havoc, and Catastrophe, all of whom belong to ChaosKnight.

Author's note: The party is about to get a lot bigger. You asked if there would be femmes, Meirelle, well here they come.

* * *

Ch.21: Incoming

"I know you have it!"

"I do not!"

One of Kup's optics twitched as he sat at the helm of a small ship. He had been appointed to escort the third wave of Autobots to assist Optimus Prime's forces. He had no quarrel with that. If all the talk was correct, this new outpost would be the new front of the war against the Decepticons and the older mech was eager to be back on the front lines. He did have a problem with his passengers though.

One of the higher-ups apparently had a bone to pick with him. He had been assigned two mechs and five femmes. Arcee he could handle; she was actually useful. The pink femme was currently trying to keep two of the other femmes from mauling each other.

"You do too!" Screamed one of the femmes, a green minibot named Trip. The little minibot threw herself headlong at another golden colored femme named Luna. The two screamed and crashed to the deck. Kup didn't even know what the slaggers were fighting over in the first place. They had been arguing when they'd come aboard and had yet to stop.

"Cut it out!" Arcee yelled, trying to pull the two apart. The other two femmes, a light blue scout named Deca and a red navigator named Retro, watched the ensuing chaos with grins. The two mechs exchanged looks and edged farther away from the femmes. The two minibot mechs, Windcharger and Brawn, seemed genuinely terrified of the psychotic femmes.

Deca leaned toward the two minibots and bared her dental plating at them and cackled when they leaned away.

"Are we there yet?" Retro called from the back for what had to have been the seventh time and Kup ground his dental plating and wondered how much trouble he'd get in for "accidentally" losing half his passengers somewhere… like a conveniently placed sun.

* * *

"This is treason," Maya said in a matter of fact tone as the two women ran across the sand. "I'll be dishonorably discharged and they'll lock us both up and throw away the key" She added, "Aiding and abetting aliens."

Joey panted and huffed. "Why aren't you out of breath?"

The other woman snorted. "Military. I'm in shape. I'm going to go ahead and guess this is the most exercise you've gotten all year?"

Joey sucked in a deep breath as she ran and dutifully ignored the older girl. They could see the fighting now and Joey wondered if it had been such a good idea after all to run towards the battle. There was a loud explosion and both girls screamed and hit the sand as Blitzwing slammed into the ground and tumbled end over end feet from them and showered them in shrapnel. Maya kicked a chunk of metal plating away from herself and scrambled to her feet with a wince. Her right leg burned, but she ignored it and looked for the other girl. Joey was curled up with her hands over her head sobbing in fear.

Maya realized the girl wasn't quite as brave as she acted. She scowled and yanked the other girl up by her arm. "Keep moving," she said and Joey nodded numbly and swiped at her tears. Maya took the lead as they headed into the war zone, slipping around debris and using rocks and bits of metal for cover as they moved. "Who are we looking for?" Maya called over her shoulder.

A giant foot slammed down beside their meager shelter and they both cowered back. A minute later, another mech tackled the first and the two fighters rolled away clawing and punching, each trying to get in a clear shot. In all the dust and smoke that was stirred up in the middle of the fighting, it was impossible to tell the mechs apart. Suddenly, Joey noticed a flashing blue glow and an idea occurred to her. The Autobots all had blue optics.

"Look for the blue glows!" She yelled and Maya nodded, her expression grim. She reached down and rubbed her leg, feeling the wet material of her uniform and sincerely hoped the bit of shrapnel lodged in her leg hadn't severed an artery.

* * *

Frenzy gave an extremely effeminate scream as he made a mad dash for Soundwave. Behind him, an enraged Sideswipe and Bluestreak gave chase. Sideswipe dove and slammed into the cassetticon bodily and Bluestreak. Sideswipe struggled to pin the smaller mech and glared at Bluestreak as the sniper hesitated.

"Blow his fraggin' helm off!" Sideswipe snapped. "He killed our human!"

Bluestreak's lips thinned and his hands trembled as he took aim. Frenzy screamed again, but before Bluestreak could act, Rumble and Lazerbeak mobbed the sniper. Blue stumbled back, swatting at Lazerbeak and trying to dislodge Rumble who's latched onto his back. Sideswipe reared back and punched Frenzy with a curse and leaped to his feet to help the other youngling.

* * *

Optimus stumbled back as Megatron knocked his weapon aside and slammed his interlocked hands into the Autobot leader's helm. Optimus feinted the next blow and grabbed Megatron's arms and threw the Decepticon bodily, ripping the cannon from Megatron's arm in the process. The two battered mechs swayed unsteadily on their feet and charged each other with a roar.

Behind them, the Constructions were trying to reach each other, but kept finding themselves cut off by the Dinobots. Grimlock's optics glowed eerily as he easily stepped in between Hook and the other Constructicons. "ME GRIMLOCK DESTROY LITTLE MECH!" The Dinobot roared as he lunged, his jaws gaping wide.

* * *

Wheeljack and Ratchet crouched over a wounded Trailbreaker, Wheeljack pressed his hands to leaking energon line in the large mech's side as he tried to stop the flow of energon. Ratchet pushed the engineer aside and set to work as Wheeljack turned and took up a guarding position over the medic and the wounded. Wheeljack's optic's flickered palely as he scanned the battlefield. He tensed as he thought he caught a glimpse of two tiny figures moving amid the chaos. A moment later, he dismissed it as a processor glitch. _The battle must be getting to me_, he thought.

* * *

Optimus was thrown backwards and slammed into a rock formation, sending chunks of rock and sand cascading down his armor. As he staggered to his feet, Megatron smirked and paused by the fallen Decepticon Runamuck. With a deft gesture, he ripped one of the fallen mech's arms off and held it like a club.

Seemingly from nowhere, a glowing pulse of purple energy slammed into Megatron's back, sending him to his knees. The two leaders looked up in surprise to see Starscream hovering over them, a strange weapon in his hands.

"Hello," the seeker drawled with a sinister smile.

* * *

In the middle of the desert far from the fighting, the air sizzled with more than just heat. The air seemed to shimmer as with a mirage and then it seemed to bulge and warp. The sand under the bulge crackled and hissed as it was baked into a solid mass. The warp grew and then shrank in on itself, before making a loud cracking sound and a large object tumbled to the ground. The air stilled and the object moved. Two smaller forms detached themselves from the larger form and staggered away to fall to their knees. The larger form rose more slowly, to reveal a femme. The femme's optics glowed dimly, one red and one blue. She stumbled over to the smaller mechs.

"Havoc? Catastrophe? Are you two okay?" She asked.

One youngling looked at her. "Nice save and all, Knight, but next time we'll walk."

"Where are we? This isn't Cybertron," the other said sounding puzzled.

The femme swayed. "I think… I might have… overdone it…" Knight mumbled, and she collapsed.

The two younglings exchanged a look. One of them prodded the femme. The other flopped down in the scorched sand. "That's just terrific," he grumbled.

"It's not her fault. It takes a lot of energy to do that thing she does and at least we got away from the Swarm," the other pointed out morosely.

"Yeah, I know. You watch her and I'll go get help," the first youngling said with a put-upon little sigh.

* * *

Author's notes: Sorry about the delay. I had finals and I was pretty sick for about a week. What do you guys think? Please review the story; I appreciate your comments and thanks for reading.


	22. Ch22: Past and Present

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic does not own the Transformers, only some OCs. Maya, Knight, Havoc, and Catastrophe belong to ChaosKnight.

* * *

Ch. 22: Past and Present

_His earliest memory was of waiting for his creators' return. Somewhere between a sparkling and a youngling and far too inexperienced to be left alone, he had sat in the darkness of his creators' dwelling and waited. With a naiveté only a small youngling was capable of, he knew they would come back. After so many days had passed, though, the low energy warnings and the hunger gnawing at his tiny frame made him take action. For the first time, he left the dwelling in search of fuel and came to a sobering realization. They weren't coming back and he was alone. The world, he realized, was a dangerous place and life wasn't fair._

_He took to the streets, using his tiny emaciated frame to his advantage. He could slip into places a grown mech couldn't and since he wasn't weighted down with any armor, he could move faster than they as well. He learned to steal energon every chance he got. He took discarded bit of armor and fashioned his own make-shift armor and he became a thief of unparalleled skill. He had become accustomed to his life and had long given up hope of reuniting with his creators. In truth, he had grown to despise them for abandoning him. His only desire, his only motivation was survival. Then everything changed. _

_He had quickly learned that old warehouses were sometimes a treasure trove of useful parts and sometimes he could find scraps of energon. Slinking in the shadows, he had slipped into a new warehouse and had frozen at the sound of voices. Warily, he had edged closer and peered out from behind the shadow of a container. The speaker was a large mech, completely silver in color with blazing red pit-fire optics._

"_-shall rise up from Autobot tyranny! We will create a new world order!" The mech was saying, his voice loud and compelling. Several other mechs cheered the declaration. The young thief wondered who they were and who Autobots were. _

"_You've seen the way they treat us! They used us in the mines and when it became more cost-efficient to use drones, they tossed us aside!" The mech continued. "I am tired of this injustice. No more discussions! If they won't cave to our terms, than we shall bring war to their doorsteps!" _

_The thief edged closer still and heard a small crunch behind him. He turned his head to see a large red, white and blue mech looming over him. He tried to run, but the seeker merely seized him by an ankle and held him up. "Lord Megatron! Look a little Autobot spy," he called out to the silver mech as he stepped over the crates and carried the youngling over to the group of mechs. Red optics narrowed on him. The youngling wriggled and snarled, clawing at the seeker's blue hand._

_The one called Megatron had strode over, his optics blazing. "Are you an Autobot, little spy? Should we make an example of you?" _

"_Let me go!" He yelled, thrashing. "I don't know about any Autobots!"_

"_He lies," the seeker snapped._

"_Is that so?" Megatron said to the youngling indulgently. "Look at the miserable thing, Starscream," he said to the seeker, "It's filthy and looks half-starved."_

"_Yes, my lord," Starscream muttered sounding disgruntled._

_The silver mech had smiled then and leaned closer to the younglings face. "Would you like some energon, little drifter? All I ask is that you pledge you're undying loyalty to the Decepticons. I think you could be useful to me."_

_For first time he thought he knew what a home and a family was. The Decepticons were cruel, but there was a sort of loyalty among the group. He finally didn't have to wonder where his next meal would come from, he was equipped with suitable armor and he was taught to fight… and to kill. The youngling became a terror, a merciless killing machine and Megatron's right hand. He was small and quiet enough to slip into Autobot dwellings to spy and ruthless enough to slaughter any who caught him. He took on grown mechs and won. He became a monster, Megatron's little pit-spawned hound._

_But then he was asked to do a new mission. He was asked to travel to Iacon and slip amid the Autobot ranks. To befriend them and feed their data back to his master. Something went wrong, though he did feed information back like he'd been commanded, he found himself amid other younglings for the first time in his life. He found himself making friends. He wound up on the alien planet Earth, and knew the time was coming. The thought of betrayal became more and more painful. Yet he did it. He betrayed them all._

* * *

Drift moved in a blur of glinting white armor on the battlefield, his sword singing as he wove it around his lithe form. He was terrifying and yet anyone who had had time amid the chaos of battle would have quickly realized that his sword never touched a single bot. Drift was suffering, caught between his loyalties. Without Megatron, he would have most likely starved on the street, but he had gone past simply acting and had really become friends with the other younglings; even the adult mechs weren't so bad. He couldn't harm them and he had to.

Out of the corner of one optic, he saw Tracks stumble and Runabout pounced on him gleefully ready to bludgeon him into oblivion with a chunk of rock. Drift's optics flickered, red, blue, red…

He lunged with his unusual speed, his sword screaming as it cut a swathe in the air and bit into metal. Runabout's red optics met Drift's blazing white optics in horror, before his severed head went flying across the battlefield. Sunstreaker, arriving too late to help, froze in his tracks. Drift spun wordlessly on his heel, and rejoined the battle.

* * *

"AGHHHH!" Joey screamed and ran headlong, Maya running just ahead of her. Behind them, they could both hear the heavy footfalls of Ravage. The girls dove behind a large chunk of metal, hiding and heard Ravage hiss low. Joey's head turned and she froze as she realized their shelter had been someone's head, luckily it wasn't one of the bots. Beside her, Maya took off her belt.

"What are you going to do, moon him?" Joey hissed and then clamped a hand over her own mouth as she heard Ravage growl.

Maya shot her a look. "I'm sick of running from these things. If I'm going to die, I'll do it on my own terms thank you," she snapped.

Joey opened her mouth, but Ravage stepped around the head at that moment. Both girls took an involuntary step backwards. Maya crouched forward. "Come here you ugly overgrown tinker toy," she said, a crazed gleam in her eyes. Ravage lunged and Maya sidestepped him. Joey cringed back and watched in muted horror as the dark-haired girl somehow managed to get her belt wrapped around Ravage's muzzle and swung up onto the thing's back. With a whoop, she dug her heels into his sides and Ravage uttered a muted yowl and bolted, twisting and kicking in an attempt to dislodge the girl.

"She's lost her mind," Joey muttered, before shaking herself and diving back into the fray. A glint of blue caught her eyes and she ran for it. She'd miss Maya, the girl hadn't been that bad and it had been nice having another human around.

Joey skidded to a stop and looked up. Wheeljack peered down at her and Joey threw herself at him with a squeal. She latched onto the startled mech's foot. "Wheeljack!"

He carefully bent and picked her up and Ratchet looked up from Trailbreaker. "You're still alive then. Good," he grunted as he worked.

She slapped her palms against Wheeljack's hand. "Jazz! Ratchet you have to go help Jazz! I know where he is and he said to warn you about the, uh, the combiners!"

Ratchet's optics paled and his face became drawn. From the other side of the battlefield, a low rumbling began to build. They all looked to see a colossal mech rising amid the chaos. "A little too late, kid," Ratchet whispered softly. He bared his dental plates. "Primus help us."

"Someone has to go get Jazz, he's dying," Joey whimpered from Wheeljack's hand. Wheeljack and Ratchet exchanged a look as the Dinobots furiously attacked Devastator. "Wheeljack,_ please_."

Ratchet growled. "Watch Trailbreaker. You, you're coming with me," he told Joey and he picked her up. She was carefully placed on the ground and Ratchet transformed. "Get in. Move it!" Joey jumped into the passenger seat and Ratchet peeled out, throwing her back against the seat.

* * *

Skywarp slammed bodily into Sideswipe, knocking him flying. The red Autobot crouched and snarled at the seeker. Suddenly, Ravage ran right between them, his cannons firing randomly. Both mechs gaped at the small figure clinging for dear life on the black Decepticon's back.

"Cuddles!" Skywarp wailed, startling Sideswipe. "Come back!" The seeker jumped into the air and took off after Ravage and the human.

Sideswipe shook his head slowly and then jumped as something plowed into the back of his leg. He turned and stared down at a small youngling and the little bot stared up at him. The little bot seized his wrist. "Come on, Knight needs help! Come on!" He yelled, tugging on a very confused Sideswipe.

"Who's Knight and where the pit did you come from?"

* * *

As they raced back across the sands toward the Decepticon headquarters, Ratchet asked, "Was there anyone left guarding him?"

Joey nodded. "Some crazy blue girl-robot," she said.

"Panic," he said grimly. "She's no threat. She's too glitching stupid to be dangerous."

At the base, Ratchet let her out and transformed. He didn't bother trying to override the door; he simply blasted his way in. He snatched up Joey and raced down the halls, Joey giving directions. They rounded a corner and came to a stop.

The femme Panic was sitting in the middle of the corridor, doodling on the wall and cackling to herself. Ratchet quietly edged around her. He caught a glimpse of what appeared to be Starscream in a dress as he passed her.

Alone in the corridor, Panic snickered. "Hi, Doc," she whispered.

* * *

Jazz was too weak to lift his head when he heard the door open. One optic flared to life behind his cracked visor. "Rasssschhhhheeee," he drawled pitifully.

Ratchet quickly ran over to his side, depositing Joey on the berth beside Jazz. He hastily scanned the saboteur and twitched. "Primus, what did they do to you?" He muttered under his breath. "I've got to move you Jazz. I'm going to turn off most of your sensors to numb you. DON'T YOU DARE OFFLINE ON ME," the medic added in a deadly tone. Joey watched anxiously as the medic worked.

One side of Jazz's mouth quirked up at her. "Goooooooooduh Jooooooooeeeeeee," he told her and she patted his cheek.

"Everything's going to be okay now," she said. Ratchet picked her up and placed her on his shoulder and picked up Jazz. The medic grunted under the weight.

"Primus, I'm too old for this," he muttered.

* * *

Author's note: Woo, that chapter was kind of long. ^.^


	23. Ch23: Past and Present part 2

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic doesn't own the Transformers, of course. Maya, Knight, Catastrophe, and Havoc belong to Chaos Knight. Joey belongs to me.

* * *

Ch.23: Past and Present Part 2

Ratchet stumbled and swore as he carried Jazz's heavy form. The medic grunted and hefted the saboteur higher. "Why couldn't you be a minibot, for Primus' sake?" He growled irritably.

Joey, riding on the medic's shoulder, tensed as Panic stepped out of a side-corridor blocking their progress. The blue and black femme stood with her head tipped to one side, her purple optics glowing dimly.

Ratchet growled. "Get the frag out of my way, femme," he hissed warningly.

"You can't remove him," she said, one arm raising to gesture vaguely at Jazz. Joey tried to slip around Ratchet's neck to hide.

"Like pit I can't." The medic's optics flared dangerously. "I may not be a youngling anymore, but I can hold my own against the likes of you."

Panic's optics dimmed and she suddenly lunged. Ratchet gritted his dental plating as the femme slammed into him. They fell and Ratchet landed on his back hard; Joey tumbled end over end and landed in a heap on the floor. On the femme's forearms, glowing energy blades extended and she slashed at the medic's face. Ratchet let go of Jazz in surprise and tried to bring his hands up to block. As soon as Ratchet let go, the femme seized one of Jazz's arms and heaved, sending the damaged mech crashing onto his side. She kicked the medic in the face and pounced on Jazz. She landed beside him and the glowing blades hummed as they sliced into Jazz's chest plate. The saboteur screamed and his back arched in pain.

"Get the frag off him!" Ratchet shouted, grabbing one of the femme's wing panels and yanking. The femme shrieked and she backhanded him, turned back to Jazz and wrenched Jazz's chest plate back. The medic seized her around the waist and tried to pull her away. She ignored him and plunged one hand wrist deep into the saboteur's chest. Ratchet yanked back on her and they both crashed backwards, a sparking object clutched in Panic's wrist. The medic tossed her away from him bodily and lurched for Jazz.

The saboteur hissed in air from his vents painfully. Ratchet checked the mech's stats in terror. The energy blades had cauterized the energon lines almost immediately, so he didn't have to worry about him bleeding out. A shadow fell over them and he looked up, his optics blazing. The femme stared down at him blankly and dropped the object she had ripped from Jazz in front of them. She reached up to wipe energon from her cheek and walked away.

Ratchet stared in confusion after the Decepticon and then glanced down at the object she had left. He picked it up and his spark seized as realization sunk in. The object was tiny but intricately made and the medic trembled as he recognized it. On one outpost, when the fighting had become stymied, the Cons had resorted to stealing the wounded and placing such devices inside their spark chambers. The Cons would then rig sensor grids up at random points around the battlefield. When the wounded were transported past those points, the pumps inside the device would flood their spark chambers with Swarm poison which would overload their circuits and spread to their processor, off-lining them. They had lost six good mechs to that trick, before they had begun to guard the wounded.

"Is he okay?"

The medic looked up at the little human. She had her arms wrapped around herself and was wide-eyed. Jazz trembled and Ratchet's fingers twitched. "He's not going to off-line," he told her and he leaned into Jazz's face. "You hear me? You better not off-line on me."

Joey bit her lip and stalked over. "That psychotic chick…"

"Saved his life," Ratchet interjected harshly. She stared up at him, not understanding. Ratchet reared back and threw the device, smashing it upon a wall. "A long time ago, I lost an apprentice," he said quietly. "A femme named Mercy."

"The crazy blue bi-" She caught Ratchet's severe look and coughed. "What happened to your apprentice?"

"She got caught in one of Wheeljack's explosions. The blast damaged her processor, fusing several neural pathways and scrambling several others. She became deranged. She was to be transported back to Cybertron to me for repair, but she never arrived. The freighter was later found drifting without power. The four crew members were everywhere…"

"Um, everywhere?" She echoed uneasily.

Ratchet nodded absently. "A head here, an arm there. It was impossible to tell which parts belonged to which mech and all completely drained of energon," he said, not noticing the human's expression as he began trying to stabilize Jazz's fluctuating systems. "Mercy was not on board. We never knew what had happened to her."

"You think she's Mercy?"

Ratchet shook his head wordlessly and picked Joey up by the back of her neck and lifted her to his shoulder. He slipped his arms under Jazz and lifted the mech.

* * *

Sideswipe seized the small youngling around his waist and he ran as Astrotrain landed heavily in front of them and raised his cannons. Veering sharply, Thundercracker slammed into Astrotrain, sending both Cons scrabbling. Sideswipe clutched the little mech to his chest and ran for cover.

Bluestreak ran headlong, his rifle clutched to his chest. Behind him, Soundwave's heavy footsteps encouraged him to run even faster. Bluestreak tripped and went sprawling on his face. His head lifted and he rolled onto his back, pulling his rifle and taking aim with trembling fingers. Ravage tore past Bluestreak's shoulder, straight for Soundwave. On the black Cassette's back was a dark-haired human female and as he watched in numb shock as the female dug her heels into Ravage's sides. Ravage's cannons fired and the Cassette yowled angrily.

Soundwave stumbled and fell on his face as his own Cassette's fire lanced into his ankles. The little human whooped in victory and Ravage seized his chance to buck and throw the woman headlong. Ravage turned furiously on the female and Bluestreak lunged, slamming his hand down over the woman as Ravage sank his fangs into the young sniper's wrist. Bluestreak shook the Cassette off and snatched up the cursing, struggling woman and ran.

* * *

"Your time has passed," Starscream shrieked and he fired on Optimus and Megatron. The two leaders lurched for cover behind a rock formation.

"Starscream, you traitorous cretin!" Megatron roared as he returned fire. "I'll rip your useless double-crossing head from your slimy body!"

"**Prime! I have Jazz!"** Ratchet's voice crackled across the Autobot commander's private communications system.

Optimus stumbled and ran for cover. Devastator had half-turned from his battle with the Dinobots and seemed to be deliberating about what to do. Optimus dodged around the Combiner.

"**Take him to the base, Ratchet,"** he called to the medic. His optics scoured the battlefield and he clenched his fists. Across the battlefield, the Autobots were stumbling back, losing. Devastator, Starscream and Megatron clashed with a thunderous roar, all fighting for control over the leadership of the Decepticons. **"Autobots, fall back!"**

"**Prime?!" **Ironhide's anguished voice cut into his head.

"**Fall back. Let the Decepticons take each other out, not us,"** he ordered decisively.

Wounded Autobots transformed and retreated away from the battle. Optimus watched Devastator slam his fist into Starscream, sending the seeker tumbling. Other Decepticons were joining the fray, attacking one another. Blitzwing swooped and was slammed into by Skywarp, the seeker raking the other's face with his claws.

Explosions suddenly rocked the battlefield, making Optimus take an involuntary step back. He craned his head back to see several human aircraft making their way toward the battle.

* * *

Author's note: 3 Maya's joyride courtesy of Chaos Knight's wonderfully strange brain.

I want to especially thank my readers and reviewers! You guys rock and this story couldn't be possible without you guys.


	24. Ch24: Absolute Chaos

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic does not own the Transformers, only some OCs. Maya, Knight, Havoc, and Catastrophe belong to ChaosKnight.

Author's Notes: First off, I watched TF: ROTF Wednesday and I would like to say: If you haven't seen it, go watch it. It was absolutely amazing (don't worry I offer no spoilers). :P Me and a group of friends have already decided to go watch it again Monday (actually I'm the only one of us who's already seen it once, so I must keep my mouth shut or D-chan will hurt me for spoiling) 3 I was pleasantly surprised about the twins, I was terrified they'd be the giant-alien-robot equivalent to Jar Jar Binks. *shudders at horrible, horrible mental image* But, moving along, here we go…

* * *

Ch 24: Absolute Chaos

"Where the pit is Sideswipe?!" Sunstreaker yelled over the cacophony of the battle. He, along with his fellow Autobots, was trying to make the most of a bad situation and was retreating to keep from being caught in the crossfire as the Decepticons fought it out. The Autobot ranks had retreated to the top of a nearby dune to watch the chaos. As far as Sunstreaker could tell, it was mostly between Megatron, Starscream and Devastator, all three fighting for control. The other Decepticons were throwing their lot in with whoever they backed. "Has anybot seen Sideswipe?!" He shouted again and a human tank went tumbling past him, swatted away by a distracted Blitzwing as if it had been an annoying insect.

"Haven't seen him," Bumblebee shouted back, as he raced to join Sunstreaker and Tracks. The humans seemed to be more in the way than any real threat, but it couldn't be helped. It was pointless wasting lives trying to pull the humans out of the battle when they'd only turn on the Autobots as surely as they would the Cons.

Optimus, his expression hidden behind his battle mask, watched the carnage grimly. He caught Wheeljack's optic and the engineer looked tired as he and Grapple moved the wounded Trailbreaker to safety. Wheeljack nodded at the Autobot commander solemnly. Behind him, the Dinobots trailed like a pack of chagrined stray dogs, upset that they'd been called away from battle. Grimlock kept twisting his head to watch the Decepticons fight with longing.

Optimus miserably watched the human military get caught in the middle of the Decepticon's battle for supremacy. There would be no more hiding after this, he realized in a sudden flash of intuition. Their war would become common knowledge to the humans. He had hoped that their war wouldn't spread to this relatively peaceful world, but as he stood and watched, he knew it was far too late.

"Prime," Ironhide said, his voice gruff with irritation. He stalked over to flank his commander and watched Megatron sling Starscream bodily into Devastator. "What the pit are we doing? We should be scrapping their afts while they're distracted."

Optimus turned to face his old friend. "And see the younglings get off-lined in the midst of a Decepticon insurrection? I don't know about you, but I've seen far too many of our young die in this war. We let the Decepticons take themselves out."

Ironhide's large hands twisted into fists and his mouth set into a thin line, but he didn't contradict his leader. He turned back to watch the battle with pale fiery optics.

* * *

"You're not listening! You have to go help Knight or she'll off-line!" The youngling snarled as he thrashed in Sideswipe's grip.

"Prime said to retreat, well, we're retreating," Sideswipe snapped as the youngling wriggled and fought him every step.

"She's out there in the middle of the desert with my twin! She needs help," the youngling snapped right back and he bit Sideswipe's hand.

The red mech abruptly released the younger bot, who landed ungracefully on his back. "Did you say _twin_?" Sideswipe asked slowly.

The youngling glowered and got to his feet slowly and with much dignity. "Yeah, my twin brother, Catastrophe."

Sideswipe thought about his own twin. He hesitated and glanced around, before leaning down to the youngling with a conspiratorial air. "I'll help you," he said finally. "Where are they?"

The youngling's optics brightened. "I'm Havoc," he said suddenly and he grinned. "Follow me… if you can keep up." With that, the youngling transformed and tore into the desert, the red Lamborghini in pursuit.

* * *

Bluestreak ran for the other mechs and only stopped when he'd reached the other younglings. He held his hands clutched together and his wing panels twitched continuously in agitation. Sunstreaker and Tracks shot his disdainful looks and Bumblebee smiled nervously.

"You seen Sides?" Sunstreaker growled without preamble and the sniper shook his head quickly. The yellow bot snorted and turned back to scan the battlefield for signs of his twin.

_Where are you, Sides?_ He wondered dismally, his hands trembling in fear, despite his brave face.

"Maybe he went with Ratchet," Bumblebee suggested quietly. "Ratchet bailed on us earlier for some kind of emergency…"

The yellow minibot trailed off under the force of Sunstreaker's glare.

* * *

Starscream dodged Megatron's fist and landed a kick that sent the Decepticon leader crashing into Devastator. The Combiner loomed over them both and roared in outrage. He backhanded both Cons with enough force to send them tumbling end over end. Soundwave and his cassettes mobbed the Combiner furiously. In the heat of battle, it was hard for even the Cons themselves to distinguish who was fighting for which side.

The Seekers seemed to be having the worst of it, torn between loyalty to their wing-mate and the knowledge of what would happen if Starscream should loose the battle, they settled for attacking anything non-Seeker, but avoided Megatron as well. Astrotrain and Blitzwing circled the battle from above trying to figure out who was winning so they could ally themselves with that Con.

On the ground, Drift twisted out of the grip of Skywarp and used one of the Insecticons as a launching board to leap onto Devastator and scramble up his back. Thundercracker very nearly knocked him loose as he blasted past to rain fire onto the Insecticons. Drift leaped and brought his sword down, driving the tip into the Combiner's neck. The huge mech screamed in rage and attempted to dislodge him, but couldn't quite reach the red and white youngling.

Drift lost his footing and swung out, his tenuous grip on his sword all that was keeping him from plummeting to the ground very, very far below. He clutched tighter to the hilt of his sword and looked around for inspiration. Out of the corner of an optic he spotted Thundercracker circling low to sneak up behind Astrotrain and with a silent prayer to Primus, Drift let go. He timed it nearly right; he landed on top of the very surprised Seeker and launched himself back at Devastator, kicking off the Combiner's side to back flip onto the ground. He cycled steadying air through his system and then plunged back into the fray with a snarl.

* * *

"Hurry up, I said!"

Joey flinched under Ratchet's furious tone and looped both arms around the tools the Doc-bot needed and proceeded to drag it over to Ratchet's impatient fingers.

They had made it back to the lonely base in peace and Ratchet had immediately set up Jazz on a med-bay table and had begun operating. Until the others returned, his only assistance was the small human woman. The only other mech present, Perceptor, was wrist deep in Skids' chest trying to stave off a sudden intense seizure that was wracking his systems. And though Joey didn't have a clue what was being done, she knew it would help save Jazz's life so she eagerly helped the irritable medic as best she could. Cybertronian tools just weren't made with the diminutive (when compared to the Transformers) statures of humans in mind and it was a struggle to shove, drag, or lug the tools Ratchet needed to within his reach. The medic's hands were a continuous blur of movement and Joey would never have believed something so big could move so gracefully, but the Doc's movements were as exact as a choreographed routine, as if he could do his job even without being able to see what he was doing.

Ratchet relaxed just the slightest bit as the saboteur finally stabilized. He glanced at the dirty and exhausted female and shook his head slowly. "So you are useful for something besides screwing with Prowl's logic circuits," he said suddenly and the human ducked her head embarrassedly. The ambulance glanced over at Perceptor and then stalked over to check that the scientist wasn't doing more harm than good.

Joey edged closer to Jazz's still form and quietly sat down beside his head. "I did what you asked," she told the mech, not sure whether he could hear her or not, but it seemed somehow important to her that she told him. "Please be okay, Jazz," she added fiddling with her tattered shoelaces. "You guys are all like family to me. Just… " She trailed off, unsure of what she wanted to say and stared at the dull metal of the med-bay table.

A shadow fell across her and she glanced up at Perceptor. The scientist had gladly placed the Theoretician in Ratchet's capable hands. He peered down at Jazz and it seemed to Joey that he somehow looked older, more worn and tired. His blue optics slid to her and he offered her a tentative smile. "I cannot say that I approve of your new fashion sense, or perhaps, more probable is the notion that the restraining device around your neck was not your idea?"

She stared at him blankly and slowly remembered the spiked collar Drift had put on her. She touched the cold metal, shocked that she's forgotten it. "It wasn't my choice," she replied sourly.

Perceptor nodded solemnly. "Perhaps I could alleviate the problem with the strategic application of heat? How sensitive to extremes in temperature is your derma?" He asked.

She tipped her head to one side quizzically and all she could muster was, "Huh?"

"You can't use a torch to cut the collar off," Ratchet snapped as he overheard from where he was hovering over Skids.

Joey twitched and gaped at the unabashed scientist. "Uh, no. No, torches _anywhere_ near my neck, thank you, but no."

Perceptor nodded and drifted off to check on Mirage. Joey shook her head after him in wonder.

* * *

Sideswipe spotted the dark shape against the sand before the youngling alerted him to it. He slowed and transformed, jogging toward the dark shape. As he approached he realized it was actually two separate shapes and the smaller one lurched to its feet as he closed in. It was a small youngling and Sides decided that he must be Catastrophe, Havoc's twin. Catastrophe was crouching down beside a larger still shape, his dental plating bared in warning.

"It's okay, Cat," Havoc yelled and his twin seemed to relax somewhat.

Sideswipe edged closer and realized that Knight, was a femme. He stared at the small femme, her optics hidden by her visor and glanced back the way he'd come. He hadn't counted on the bot being off-line or at that, being a femme. He slid his arms under her and tried to lift her, she wasn't all that heavy, but she was only just smaller than him. He grunted.

Cat raised an optic ridge. "He's your help? Bro, you stink at the whole rescue thing," he chided lightly.

"Hey, at least he's an Autobot," Havoc muttered back.

"I got this under control," Sideswipe growled between his clenched dental plating. The twins exchanged skeptical looks as the red Lamborghini took a shaky step and then another.

"Don't throw your back out, Gramps," Cat said with a smirk and Havoc snickered despite himself.

"I'm not _that_ much older than you!" Sides snarled, and his memories of taunting Wheeljack in the same manner came back to haunt him. He grumbled.

Starscream yowled as Megatron was suddenly in his face, seizing him by the helm. The Seeker found himself with the Decepticon leader's cannon rammed against his chest. He did the only thing he could think of. He fired his experimental weapon straight into Megatron's chest as Megatron fired his own weapon. Both combatants were thrown in opposite directions with smoking holes in their chests. The fighting abruptly stopped as the other Cons absorbed what had happened.

Just as suddenly, Soundwave, the Cassettes, and Drift were seizing Megatron and hauling him back to safety, defending their leader. Skywarp, Blitzwing and Thundercracker descended on Starscream, shielding him. Devastator sank to his knees, barely able to not fall apart into his separate components. For a long moment, they all regarded each other hostilely, calculating.

In the distance, the sound of human aircraft filled the air as the humans scrambled to make another strike at them.

Then Starscream's thin shrill voice broke the silence. "Retreat," he hissed, rising shakily. "This isn't over! Your cycles are numbered!"

Megatron glared murderously at his subordinate as Drift and Soundwave urged him back. Astrotrain, the Insecticons and the few other remaining Cons watched warily, trying to decide who they owed their loyalty to. Drift glanced at the dune the Autobots had occupied, but they were long gone. He allowed Megatron to rest his weight on his shoulder and wondered if the Autobots had suffered any casualties.

* * *

Author's note: The movie seems to have kick-started my imagination again, which is great. I was suffering from mild writer's block before, but it seems to have moved on. And yet again, I'd like to thank my readers and reviewers. This story has become far more popular than I would have imagined.


	25. Ch25: Downtime

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic does not own the Transformers, only some OCs. Maya, Knight, Havoc, and Catastrophe belong to Chaos Knight.

* * *

Ch25: Downtime

It was quiet, Megatron decided. Too quiet. As much as he ranted and fussed when his soldiers were too raucous, he knew he's have preferred that to this. In the end, Astrotrain had joined up with him. He had disgustedly realized the only Decepticons to take a stand with him had been Drift, Soundwave and his cassettes, and Astrotrain. And of course, the nearly worthless femme medic. He watched her hovering over his damaged shoulder, blissfully silent for once as she worked. The only time she was ever quiet was when she worked. Something about healing soothed and calmed her malfunctioning processor. She was beyond conversation when she was in that mode; her singular concentration and absorption in her task at the exclusion of all else was welcome.

He lifted his head as Drift slowly approached. The red and white youngling went down on one knee before him. "The traitor, Starscream, and his cohorts have fled this area," he announced, never looking up. The youngling had been subdued since they'd returned to base.

Megatron straightened, the movement painful. The femme shifted, following his movement and never ceasing to repair his damage. "Stinking backstabbing coward," he said, the words ground out between clenched dental plating. "The Decepticons will not be divided." He stood, Panic rising along side of him. He turned on her suddenly, back handing her. "You can't even obey orders. You can't even guard one single Autobot prisoner." There was no heat in his words, he hadn't even been surprised to learn the femme had fallen into recharge and let the prisoner escape, but he needed to take his fury at Starscream out on someone.

The femme carefully edged away, her purple optics dim. She silently collected the tools he'd knocked from her hands and walked back up to him and resumed her repairs. Unlike Starscream, she wouldn't react.

Drift watched the exchange in silence. He hadn't known Jazz had been a prisoner, so his escape had come as a surprise. He was more upset about the absence of his pet- he hesitated. No, his human friend. Not his pet. He wondered if she was safe. If she'd ever forgive him…

* * *

"**Sunny! A little help here?" **

Sunstreaker stumbled to a stop, his head turning at the summons. The Autobot ranks were yards from their base, but Sunstreaker transformed without a word of explanation to the other bots and raced back across the desert in his alt mode. He didn't have to go far. Sideswipe was approaching slowly, carrying an unmoving form in his arms. Two smaller figures flanked him on either side. Sunstreaker transformed, snatched his weapon and held it ready.

Sideswipe grinned at him. "Bout time, bro. I've been trying to hail you!" He hefted the prone form higher in his arms.

Sunstreaker stalked over and realized his twin was carrying a femme. "Who are they?" He demanded, nodding at the two smaller twins as he moved to help Sideswipe carry the femme.

"That's Havoc and his brother Catastrophe," the red Lamborghini explained as he nodded at each twin in turn.

"Where'd they come from?" Sunstreaker asked, acting as if the younglings weren't even there.

"We're right here. We can hear you," Catastrophe snapped in irritation.

"He's too dumb to figure that one out," Havoc added, a mischievous light in his optics. "You have to be nice to the old bots when their processors start to fail them. They get kind of cranky."

Sunstreaker snarled loudly. "_What? _I must not have_ heard_ you correctly. I _know _you just didn't call me _dumb and_ _old_."

The younger twins grinned suddenly. "And if we did?" Catastrophe challenged.

* * *

Bluestreak slipped into his quarters in silence and put the object he'd been carrying carefully on his berth and crouched in front of it. The little black-haired woman was instantly on her feet, running for the far edge of his berth in a mad attempt at escape. He reached across the berth and raked her back over to him with care. "It's okay. I won't hurt you, really. My name's Bluestreak, hey, are you a friend of Joey's? Have you seen Joey? She's a friend of mine. She'll tell you I'm okay, well, she seems to like me anyway. What's your name? You're a femme, right?"

Maya held up a hand to stem the flow of questions before Bluestreak could really get on a roll. "Bad giant alien robot or good giant alien robot?" She demanded when she was sure she had his attention.

Bluestreak stared at her for a moment. "Um, I'm an Autobot. We're the good guys, but I guess the Decepticons would say they're the good guys and we're the bad guys, but I think the Autobots are the good—"

She waved him into silence. "Okay, you're one of the good guys. I get it. You got a doctor here?" She gestured at her leg, which was now coated in a layer of dried blood.

Bluestreak nodded and held out a hand to her. She eyed his huge hand warily, before taking a deep breath and climbing on. "We got Ratchet, the Hatchet—don't tell him I call him that, please. He's scary, but he's a great medic and he can fix just about everything…"

Maya put her head in her hands and listened to the young sniper happily babble away as he carried her from his room and into the hall. She had to admit, despite his unending stream of chatter, he was kind of adorable like a small child. She shook her head in irritation at herself and Bluestreak shot her a questioning look.

Joey, covered in a layer of dried Energon, dirt, and blood, looked up as Bluestreak entered the med bay. A tense Ratchet spun on him, a tool held up at the ready and his mouth already open to fuss. He calmed down when he saw who it was.

Bluestreak suddenly lost all interest in talking and only mumbled, "Wounded!" He placed Maya hastily, but very gently on the berth beside Jazz and fled the med bay.

Joey peered at Maya who glared back. "Hey, you're alive," the brown-haired girl noted.

"You ditched me in the middle of a battlefield!" Maya snarled, advancing to the edge of her table to point accusingly.

Joey snorted. "Oh, no. _You _decided to play cowgirl and took off on that cat-thing's back._ You_ ditched me."

"I saved your worthless butt! Did you even bother looking for me?!" Maya countered.

Joey crossed her arms. "I was on a mission from Jazz."

"You two have met the acquaintance of one another previously?" Perceptor asked from his position near a wall and out of Ratchet's way.

Wheeljack looked up curiously from where he was doing some minor repairs on Trailbreaker.

"Unfortunately," Joey muttered.

"Watch it, alien girl."

Ratchet hissed. "My med bay. All of you, shut up," he snapped in tones that harbored no arguing. "Don't make me lock you in different drawers of my supply cabinet," he snapped at the two women. Joey and Maya exchanged looks; Maya's disbelieving and Joey's grim.

* * *

"The losses were acceptable," Prowl said as he watched his commander slowly pace the floor in front of Teletran-1. Teletran's screen was showing the battlefield from various angles. Zooming in on the crumpled human vehicles and the broken bodies. "We have the advantage over the Decepticons. They will be less decisive and weaker while divided."

Optimus paused and made Teletran replay an image. He watched in silently. "I wonder if they would have thought it was acceptable," he said finally.

Prowl shot him a puzzled look. "Who, sir?"

"The humans."

Prowl looked away, his wing panels rising stiffly, the only sign of just how uncomfortable he was. He cycled air noisily into his system. "I received a relay from Kup. He will breach the atmosphere by next cycle with the next shipment of personnel," Prowl said. One corner of his lips twitched up almost unnoticeably. "He did not sound pleased."

* * *

Cliffjumper crossed his arms against his chest and leaned back against the wall, keeping an optic trained on the main entrance. He, along with a few select others who hadn't suffered more than minor cosmetic damage from the battle, had been assigned guard duty. He didn't really expect any trouble, the Decepticons had been pretty slagged and had seemed to be more concerned about the dissention among their own ranks than about the Autobots.

The door slid open and he reached for his gun, but relaxed as the setting sun glinted for Sunstreaker's helm. The yellow warrior was carrying two unknown younglings; he one in each hand, holding them up by the backs of their necks. The two identical younglings were ranting and struggling ineffectually against the Lamborghini.

"Totally uncalled for, you jerk!" One youngling snarled as he attempted to kick Sunstreaker.

"I'm telling Knight and she'll kick your sorry aft!" Rejoined the other youngling as he tried to pry the yellow mech's fingers loose.

Sunstreaker glared at Cliffjumper, the look warning him to keep his mouth shut. With a snarl, Sunstreaker tossed the younglings into the base. "SHUT UP AND GET IN THERE!" He roared at them and the younglings flinched.

Cliffjumper stared bemusedly at the irate Lamborghini and turned to watch the red twin struggle through the entrance carrying an off-line femme. "Gee, Mr. Personality," Sideswipe muttered, "you're making friends all over the place."

Cliffjumper snorted loudly, earning a go-to-pit glare from Sunstreaker. He coughed quietly. "I'll comm. Ratchet and let him know you're coming," the red minibot said.

* * *

The sound of a jet filled the still desert air. Slowly, it decelerated and hovered, kicking up dust and sand in little spirals. It hesitated as though unsure, then transformed. Thundercracker landed lightly on his feet in the cool desert air. He looked around.

If he turned and walked to his right, he'd eventually come to the Autobot's base.

If he turned and walked to his left, he'd come to the main Decepticon base, where Megatron would be recovering with his loyal few.

Straight behind him and a long way away, was Starscream's bunker, where his wing mates were.

Thundercracker sat down in the sand and remained so until the earth's sun set and the moon was high overhead. He turned a single question over and over in his processor, mulling it over. Where did he belong? Where would he be happiest? To whom did he owe his allegiance?

He stood abruptly, the moon shining off his armor. He smiled faintly and began to walk.

* * *

Author's note: Trying to tie together all the loose ends; if I miss something or overlook something, please feel free to point it out. As always, I greatly appreciate your reviews and the fact that you guys like it enough to read it. Much thanks.

-Wide Spread Panic's outta here


	26. Ch26: Party

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic does not own the Transformers, only my poor, battered OC Joey. Maya, Knight, Havoc, and Catastrophe belong to Chaos Knight and are on loan with permission.

* * *

Ch.26: Party

Sides trailed down the corridor in the wake of his twin carrying the prone femme. The two smaller twins followed on his heels, anxiously hovering. They fussed at the red Lamborghini constantly, worrying over the femme in his arms. Sunstreaker periodically snarled at them to shut up. Havoc and Catastrophe had learned by then to keep out of reach of the irritable yellow warrior.

Ratchet was closing up Jazz's chest as they entered the med bay. Sideswipe glanced at Jazz's still form and then quickly averted his gaze. Ratchet peered at Sideswipe, the femme and then at the younger set of twins.

"The pit did they come from?" He growled as he indicated an empty berth. Sideswipe set the femme down carefully as Ratchet gently pushed him aside and scanned the femme.

"Found them in the desert," Sideswipe answered with a shrug, glancing around the med bay. He straightened a little as he spotted Joey and she smiled at him faintly. He reached over and picked her up smiling. "I thought you died," he commented.

She smiled weakly and patted his palm. "Hey, we squishies are tough."

Ratchet growled softly. "If you're not injured, get out. I don't need you underfoot," he snapped. Sideswipe nodded and Sunstreaker turned on his heel and stormed out. Ratchet shot the younger twins a look. "That goes for you two too."

"We're not going anywhere, Gramps," Catastrophe snapped and his twin crossed his arms.

The Lambo twins winced and raced from the med bay. A second later, the smaller twins were flung bodily from the med bay. Joey leaned from Sides' hand to stare at the two shocked younglings.

"What's his problem?" Havoc growled.

Catastrophe leapt to his feet and banged a fist against the med bay door. "HEY, GRAMPS! What's the deal?!"

The door abruptly slid open and Ratchet loomed in the doorway with a wrench in hand. "DO. NOT. TEMPT. ME," he hissed warningly and the new twins scrambled backwards in surprise. The door slid shut with a thud in their stunned faces.

"Yeah," Sides drawled as he patted Joey on the head. "You don't mess with the Demon Medic. Well, not if you want to live long." With that said he turned on his heel and strolled down the hall. Sunstreaker smirked and followed his brother.

Havoc and Catastrophe exchanged a look and scurried after the older twins.

Sideswipe placed Joey on the top of his helm and she squawked and tried to hold on. He stretched his arms in the air. "I'm thinking we should do something. Something big to celebrate our victory," he said with a grin.

Sunstreaker snorted loudly as he eyed the unhappy human on his twins' head. "What victory? The Cons kicked their own afts. We retreated," He muttered and the distaste in his tone was ample evidence of how he felt about that.

"Hey, we didn't get slagged and we recovered our human. That's a victory in my books," Sides countered.

Sunstreaker rolled his optics. "Fine. Whatever. What do you have in mind?"

Sideswipe snickered suddenly. "We need some help. Round up the crew!" He declared, pointing dramatically.

Sunstreaker shook his head. The Lambo twins wandered off to the crew quarters area with the younger twins confusedly following.

* * *

Ratchet leaned over the femme, his expression frustrated. Her internal workings were different from any he'd ever encountered. Several neural pathway arrangements made no sense whatsoever to him. He pursed his lips and ran another scan. The femme's energy level readings were dangerously low and he rigged up an energon drip to stabilize her system. He lifted her visor and froze. He leaned over her, staring at her optics. He pushed back from the berth, his expression grim.

"Jacks?" He called.

The engineer looked up as he showed Trailbreaker from the med bay. "Something wrong, Ratchet?" He strolled over to stand on the other side of the femme's berth.

"Tell me I'm not malfunctioning," the medic said, gesturing toward the femme. "Her system… how the frag was she functioning like that in the first place? What is she?"

Wheeljack frowned at Ratchet and scanned the femme. He leaned back slightly, his vocal indicators blinking in confusion. "You've got me."

"These systems," the medic growled, indicating several sub-systems in the femme's system, "these look like Con design, but these other, they're clearly Autobot in nature. You can't just mesh the two. The system would reject one or the other."

Wheeljack shrugged weakly. "You got me. I'm just an engineer, though." He peered at the femme with renewed interest. "I don't suppose you'd let me run tests on her…" he caught the medic's glower and shuffled awkwardly. "Never mind."

Ratchet snarled turned on his heels and stormed into his office to do some research. Wheeljack sighed and followed his old friend to help.

* * *

Cosmos flattened himself against a corridor wall as best he could as Ironhide tore past in pursuit of Tracks. He stared after the enraged weapons specialist and youngling in bemused confusion. A minute later, Blurr swerved from a nearby corridor and zipped into Ironhide's quarters to re-emerge seconds later laden with cubes of suspicious looking energon. _High grade_, Cosmos realized as Blurr streaked away laughing.

Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Bumblebee, and Bluestreak were waiting in one of the more seldom used conference rooms when Blurr raced in, followed minutes later by a laughing Tracks. Havoc and Catastrophe had trailed along, keeping close to the Lambo twins for no reason other than that they were the only mechs the younger twins knew.

Blurr merrily handed out the suspicious energon. Sideswipe seized one of the cubes and with a grandiose air, toasted the other younglings. "To victory!" He roared and the other younglings jeered him on as he tossed back the cube and took a huge swig.

The others watched intently as he shuddered and hiccupped loudly. "WE NEED SOME MUUU-SIIIC!" He yowled and the other younglings cheered and joined in.

Tracks took a huge gulp of his and swayed on his feet, before passing the cube to Havoc and Catastrophe. The twins eyed the cube and the older younglings, before exchanging a shrug and joining in.

* * *

Prowl looked up as Red Alert raced into his office without preamble. "PROWL!" He seized Prowl's arm and yanked, which had about as much affect as trying to drag a mountain. "You must see this!"

Prowl glowered at him and then slowly stood up, his wing panels rising stiffly. "If this is another one of your glitched up imaginings, I will drag you to Ratchet in stasis cuffs."

Red Alert scowled. "The cyber-zombies are_ real_!"

Prowl sighed. "Of course they are. They just happen to be visible to only you."

"They are sneaky!"

Prowl resisted the urge to throttle the security officer and trailed him from the room.

* * *

Loud thumping music permeated the base. Maya sat on the edge of one berth forgotten and bored. She looked up at the sound and frowned. The mech on the berth beside her shuddered suddenly and lurched up. He doubled over, his visor flickering unsteadily. "Fr-r-aaaaggghh. Staaaaabi-bili-zationzzzzzz allllll of-f-f," the mech drawled painfully. He swung his legs over the side of the berth and tried to stand up. He wobbled and grabbed the berth to keep from toppling over. His head raised and he spotted Maya.

"He-el-ello theeeerreehh," He smiled lopsidedly at her and stretched a hand out to her. She scrambled backwards, eyeing him. "Woooon't huu-rt-urt yoooou," he said and he twitched his fingers at her. "Mi-issing all th-the fuuun."

"I don't think you're supposed to be up and about," Maya pointed out uneasily. The mech's lopsided grin stretched even wider. Maya fidgeted and crossed her arms. She sighed disgustedly and stepped into his proffered hand. He transferred her to his shoulder and glanced around. Jazz managed to stagger over to the wall where Wheeljack had stacked several alloys and assorted scrap metals for repair purposes. Jazz yanked a thick steel rebar from the top of the pile and rested his weight on it cautiously. He winced in pain and took a hesitant step.

Maya shot him a wary look as he made his slow way from the med bay.

* * *

Prowl put his face in his hands as Sideswipe danced past. Singing.

"Weeeeeee are the champions, my friiiiiends! AND weeeee'll keep on fighting til the ennnnnnnnd!" Sideswipe howled as he drunkenly danced in circles.

Several other mechs had shown up drawn by the raucous music. Optimus Prime himself had shown up and was watching the chaos with a mixture of disgust and amusement. Until something streaked past him, dropping a piece of armor in its wake. It took the older mechs a second to realize that Blurr was zipping unsteadily about the room, shedding his outer armor in a drunken fit.

Blurr paused his manic speeding long enough to nearly plow into Prowl. He grinned up at the officer and cackled. "I'm bringin' sexy baaaaack!" He yelled and he drummed his palms on the horrified mech's chest, before racing off.

Red Alert took instant exception and chased the stripping and overtly affectionate youngling around the room.

Ironhide jerked as the room's door slid open and Jazz swayed in the entry way. The wounded saboteur grinned dazedly. "Jazz?!" Ironhide snarled in surprise and he grabbed the mech as he almost fell. The little human on his shoulder yelped. "What the frag are ya doin' up?!"

* * *

In the lonely med bay, no one was present to see the shadowy figure let itself in. Drift slipped around the bay, his optics glowing as he searched. He growled under his breath as he realized his human wasn't there. He turned to leave, when the prone femme sat up with a start, her optics flaring to life.

Drift froze and his red optics met hers, one blue and one red. Drift staggered backwards as if he'd been punched, unable to break her stare.

"Who- who are you?" He demanded in a whisper.

Knight shivered and reacted instinctively to the intruder. She screamed. Ratchet's office door slid open and Ratchet and Wheeljack stormed into the med bay, weapons drawn.


	27. Ch27: Let the Bodies Hit the Floor

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic does not own the Transformers, only my poor, battered OC Joey. Maya, Knight, Havoc, and Catastrophe belong to Chaos Knight and are on loan with permission.

Author's note: I know: long time, no write. Writer's Block, fun. Seeing as how it seems to have moved on, let the writing commence.

* * *

Ch.27: Let the Bodies Hit the Floor

The femme jerked and spasmed suddenly, her mismatched optics flaring. Ratchet's own optics widened a split second before everything went suddenly and quite definitely dark. He heard Wheeljack yell in surprise right before the world came back into bright, glaring focus as they all landed roughly and lurched to their feet, except for the femme. She only whimpered. Ratchet looked around with a sinking feeling; they were no longer in his med bay.

He stared around himself at white sand that stretched off until it abruptly collided with the clearest blue water he'd even seen. He turned behind him to see palm trees, more sand, and little else. He looked back at the femme in a mixture of wonder and horror.

_Just what the frag was she?_

She shined again and he crouched beside her, scanning her as Wheeljack kept a weapon trained on Drift. The youngling stood stiffly, staring at the femme with a confused look on his face.

"Her energy levels are critical," Ratchet said to Wheeljack, his voice strained and unhappy. "She's going to offline."

* * *

Jazz swayed on his feet and Ironhide pulled one of the injured mech's arms around his shoulders to support him. Jazz beamed unsteadily at the room at large. "Are ya outta yer processor?" Ironhide growled at him.

Jazz shuddered and Maya dropped flat onto his shoulder, clinging for dear life. Ironhide glared at him and then groaned. "Ratchet disconnect yer pain receptors?" He asked suspiciously.

Prowl stepped up, moving a finger back and forth in front of Jazz's visor. The saboteur's head lazily followed it. "He cannot feel the pain at the moment, but he is assuredly doing more damage to himself by being up. He should have been restrained," Prowl muttered darkly. "Come, let us get you back to the med bay."

Red Alert squawked indignantly as Blur abruptly pounced on him in only his proto-armor. "I don't wanna go to school, mommy!" He drunkenly wailed as the Security Officer flailed and attempted to pry the soused and mostly-naked youngling off of him.

Havoc and Catastrophe stumbled into Optimus Prime and fell onto their skid plates. Both stared up at the Autobot commander drunkenly.

"Wow… yer-you're… big," Havoc babbled. Catastrophe tipped his head back until he fell over flat on his back. He snickered. "BIG!" Havoc yelled, spreading his arms and flopping over beside his twin. They both cackled insanely.

Optimus raised an optic ridge, wondering where the two new younglings had come from. He jerked as across his comm. he heard Kup's static-filled, but obviously irritated voice.

**Prime, you better send some –skkt- to come get these fragging femmes before –skkt- offline them. **

* * *

Megatron sat on his thrown, his chin propped up on one chin and deep in thought. His ruby optics locked on some middle place only he could see. Soundwave waited patiently beside his master, awaiting Megatron to move or speak first.

Loud cussing and screaming abruptly snapped them out of their silence. They looked up to see Panic backpedal into the room, the surgical energy blades on her forearms extended. A moment later, they saw what had her so agitated. Runabout's headless body shambled into the room with its one arm extended blindly. The Decepticon and his brother, Runamuck, had both died and Panic had insisted the bodies be recovered. Now Runamuck staggered into the throne room after his brother, an optic dangling from his face and moaning horrifically.

Megatron's optics dimmed for a moment and Soundwave edged away as subtly as possible. Megatron stood up abruptly, his optics flaring in fury and without a word blasted Runamuck and Runabout. Panic squeaked in surprise as parts rained down upon her and she sheepishly glanced at Megatron.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," he said, his voice smooth and deadly. "But did they or did they not die? I believe they did and if they died, how is it that they were functioning without a spark?"

Soundwave backed even further away.

Panic stared at him. Her head slowly tipped to one side, his violet optics calculating. "…Magic?" She said finally in a hopeful tone.

Soundwave bit back a groan as Megatron seized the femme by the chevron on her helm and yanked hard.

"Ow. Ow,ow, ow," she growled, twisting sideways and hissing as Megatron tugged her face inches from his and glared down at her.

"Try again," he growled.

She blinked her optics, wincing uncomfortably. "I dunno… zombies happen? Don't worry, be happy?" She tried, still refusing to be serious.

"Zombies?" Megatron snarled. "I don't know what you're up to, but you better explain before I give in to the urge to rip your door panels off."

She wriggled in his grasp and pouted at him. "You have no sense of humor," she said and she hurriedly continued as his grip on her chevron tightened warningly. "Ow! Okay okay okay, expendable soldiers eat processor sic on Screaming One!" She babbled, cringing.

He shook her. "Use sentences! Primus help you if you don't make sense!"

She whined and huffed. "Hard to talk when you have a hold of me like that. Very sensitive sensors there! They tried to eat me," she grumbled, kicking out one leg as if to kick the fallen soldiers. "Literally tried to take a bite out of me. Without their spark they seem pretty mindless, I'm guessing their processors got all slagged when they died, though Runabout doesn't even have his processor, let alone his head, so he shouldn't even be capable of movement—"

"You're babbling again," He warned and she flinched.

"Yes, yes, yes. Sorry. They're mindless and aggressive, so I thought we could sic them on Starscream?" She fell silent and cowered slightly. "I'm really rather attached to my door panels. Also very sensitive. Lots of important sensors…"

Megatron shoved her and she flailed and fell flat on her back and her speakers instantly roared to life playing music. "LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR! LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR! LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOOOOOOOR!!"

"SHUT UP! Get out of my sight before I rip your arm off and beat you offline with it!" Megatron roared and she yelped, scrambling to her feet and about falling on her face in her haste to escape him.

Her scowled and directed his glare down at the remains of Runabout and Runamuck. His optics narrowed in thought.


	28. Ch28: Welcome to the Jungle

Author's Note: Knight, Havoc and Catastrophe belong to ChaosKnight and I'm just borrowing them. And of course, Wide Spread Panic doesn't own the Transformers, only a few OCs. Sorry for the long break between updates, I've been busy with a new project.

And on that note, I'm posting a poll on my Author's page and I'd greatly appreciate your responses. As always, my thanks to the readers. You guys rock!

* * *

Ch. 28: Welcome To the Jungle

Drift shivered, staring at the unknown femme that Wheeljack and Ratchet were tending. He was sure he'd never seen her before and yet it felt like he knew her. Something about her pulled him.

"It's got to be something like Skywarp's teleporting," Wheeljack muttered as the femme whimpered softly in pain, the sound wrenching his spark. "Of course we don't even know where or when we are. If she off-lines, we might be stuck here. We need energon."

"We don't have any energon," Ratchet growled, taking his irritation out on the engineer.

Drift took a step toward them and Wheeljack yanked his gun up, aiming at Drift's head. "Back off," he snarled warningly. "Decepticon." The last word was loaded with so much venom that it made Drift's spark seize.

"You couldn't understand what I've been through," Drift whispered. "I didn't have any choice."

"There's always a choice," Wheeljack snapped, optics narrowing.

"Wheeljack! Help me, you can argue later." Ratchet ground his dental plating together. "We might have to do an energon transfusion. We need her alive."

Drift watched the femme struggle weakly against them, too drained to understand that they were trying to help her. Scared and feeling alone among strangers. He knew that feeling only too well. "Take mine."

Both mechs looked up suspiciously at him. Drift could barely believe himself that he was offering to let them have him at their mercy only to save a femme he didn't even know.

Drift edged closer, keeping an optic on Wheeljack's gun and shoulder cannon. "Take the energon from me," he growled, holding out an arm to the medic.

* * *

It was hard to say exactly what if anything was going on in Blurr's over-charged processor. Joey certainly hadn't even realized their armor could come off, but as Red Alert attempted to tackle him, he shed the last bit of his armor. His codpiece.

Seated on top of Sideswipe's helm, Joey shrieked, covering her eyes. _Why the hell would giant alien robots even need those?! _She wondered frantically, her brain only too eager to supply the obvious answer.

"My eyes!" She hissed as Red Alert caught the youngling, tackling him to the ground with just a little too much overzealous enthusiasm. She pressed her face to Sideswipe's helm to block out the sight. "Why do you guys even have those?" She shrilled in horror.

Sideswipe swayed drunkenly and rumbled at the human on his head. "How the Pit ya think we interface?" He slurred laughing hysterically.

"Waaaay too much information!"

Behind them, Prowl looped an arm around Jazz's shoulders, trying to guide him back to the med bay. Maya flailed at him from where she was sprawled on his shoulder. "Hey, a little help here!" She yelled frantically.

Prowl glowered as he pried the female off of Jazz. "Oh joy," he grumbled. "Another human." He huffed softly at the dark-haired female, before stiffly passing her off to Bluestreak without a word.

She stared up at him, cringing as she sat in his palm. "Oh joy," she mimicked sarcastically after Prowl's retreating back as he led Jazz away. "Another alien butt-hole."

* * *

Megatron's silver feet made a soft beat on the corridor floor as he moved down the hall toward what had been the Constructicon's lab. The deranged medic had taken over the labs for her own unholy experiments. Most of the lighting along the corridor had been shattered or blinked erratically; ragged claw-like scars marred the wall where Cybertronian fingers had gouged into the metal. The damage became steadily worse the closer he got to the labs, caused during one of the medic's uncontrollable fits no doubt. His optics narrowed as loud, unstable laughter reached his audios. The femme was singing.

"_Yes, it's true that I believe I'm weaker than I used to be…"_

He raised his hand to knock and scowled. It was his base, by Primus and he didn't have to knock. He keyed the door open, snarling at the mess that had transformed the lab. She'd been raiding the Constructions' stores.

"_I've got a disease deep inside me, makes me feel uneasy,"_ she crooned and he glimpsed her moving around a table that she had taken the legs off and tilted upright. A monstrosity of spare parts was strapped to the table. A thing without a face, its entire faceplate peeled off and its inner workings bared. A chill ran through him. He had taken lives in his time in the arena to survive, but her cold callous indifference was disturbing. _"You taste like honey, honey."_

She half-turned seeing him and she bared her dental plating at him in a grin. "How's your progress?" He snarled, fighting not to shudder and show weakness. Her crazed purple optics flared in amusement.

"Yesssss, we're getting somewhere," she purred, flexing her clawed fingers. She reached up, scraping her claws against her helm with a rending scraping sound. "I've almost got iiiiiiit."

Megatron stifled a growl. "You'd better have."

He saw her shoulders go slack, her wing panels scissoring upright. Her optics flared brightly as she rumbled and purred loudly. He snarled at her, backing away and leaving the lab. Not because he was afraid of her, but because he couldn't stand to look at her.

"_Yes, I am, I hope you think you've beaten me. Hope I start talking crazy before you understand me_," he heard her singing from behind him_. "Sunshine, you're the best time I've ever ever had…"_

* * *

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Optimus eyed Kup as the older mech's optics twitched. Optimus knew he shouldn't laugh. It was unprofessional and disrespectful, he silently told himself. That didn't make it any easier not to, though. The old war-dog's lips were pulled back in a snarl, his entire frame rigid. The older mech had four femme younglings Optimus didn't recognize clinging to him, while Arcee attempted to keep two of the femmes from swatting at each other across the battle-hardened mech. A little ways behind them and looking slightly traumatized were Brawn and Windcharger.

One of the femmes shrieked softly, detaching herself from Kup to tackle another femme. The other two youngling femmes watched disinterestedly, shrinking back against Kup and clinging to him.

Kup shivered, grinding his dental plating. Optimus shook his head slightly. He had the sinking suspicion that life aboard the ark was about to get a little more interesting.

**Optimus?** Prowl's anxious voice cut in on his internal comm. **I cannot locate Ratchet or Wheeljack. Anywhere.**

* * *

Drift ground his dental plating as Ratchet removed the outer armor panels on his forearm, baring his sensitive proto-armor. He tensed as a long, thin bladed appendage extracted from one of the medic's arm panels.

"Why are you doing this?" Ratchet demanded as Drift's optics locked unwaveringly on the blade, watching the way the sun glinted along its edge. He knew distinctly in a corner of his mind that the scalpel was forged of a metallic compound that would effortlessly slice through his proto-armor.

"I want to," he replied slowly.

Ratchet's optics gleamed menacingly. "This won't buy you redemption." The medic warned softly.

"I don't expect it to." Drift dimmed his optics as the blade touched his metal flesh. The medic wasn't going to disable his pain sensors, he realized in horror. His dental plating bit into his bottom lip as the metal blade gently cut into him with slow clinical detachment. He shuddered, fighting to not make a sound of pain.

He squinted as Wheeljack slid his hands under the femme's thin frame, maneuvering her closer to Drift and Ratchet. Ratchet seized his wrist, yanking it in front of the femme's face. She shuddered as he watched and her mismatched optics brightening as she scented the energon. He winced as one of her hands shot out to curl around his wrist and tug it toward her. His optics paled as her mouth closed around the cut, hungrily pulling in energon and he growled softly at the unsettling sensation.

The little femme whimpered softly, scooting closer to him and grabbing onto him with both hands. The antenna-like appendages on the sides of her helm folded back submissively. There was something so innocent and tentative about the femme that Drift started to reach out to her to soothe her before he caught himself.

"What's her name?" He asked raggedly, not looking at the other two mechs.


	29. Ch29: The More Things Change

Author's Note: Knight, Havoc and Catastrophe belong to ChaosKnight and I'm just borrowing them. And of course, Wide Spread Panic doesn't own the Transformers, only a few OCs.

* * *

Ch.29 The More Things Change…

Sitting on the berth inside Bluestreak's room beside Maya, Joey wearily scrubbed at her eyes with a resigned sigh. "I'm never getting that image out of my head. It's burned itself onto the lids of my eyes. Every time I shut my eyes, there it is," she grumbled, vaguely aware of a shadow passing across her.

"Sorry you had to see that. I don't think anyone really thought Blurr would do that. I certainly didn't think he'd do it. I wouldn't do that, I don't think. Well, maybe if I had too much high-grade. Then I might have done the same thing, but probably not," Bluestreak mumbled, his door wings twitching slightly on his shoulders. "I don't think I've ever had that much high-grade. I'd have to have had a lot of high-grade."

Joey risked a glance at Maya and was rewarded by the other girl's mouth hanging slightly open, her expression baffled. The dark haired girl leaned over, her eyes tracking Bluestreak's movement. "He likes to talk," she whispered.

"Mmhmm. You hurt his feelings and I'll tackle you," Joey whispered back, smiling sweetly.

Maya snorted softly. "I'm not going to say anything to him… it's kind of adorable, like a hyper five year old," she countered.

Joey smirked slightly, nodding. "That's my Bluestreak."

The other girl's expression grew curious and Joey flushed. "Oh?"

"My friend," Joey hissed, slapping the other girl lightly who laughed darkly.

"You don't think I'd actually do something like that if I had too much high-grade, do you?" Both girls looked up at the Autobot. "Maybe I shouldn't have any more high-grade, because I don't want to do something like that. I bet Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are going to tease Blurr over that."

Joey nodded sagely. "Lord knows I'm going to tease him," she said, winking at the grey mech.

Bluestreak rumbled, ducking his head and turned his attention to Maya who fidgeted under his intensely bright gaze. "Did I introduce myself? I'm Bluestreak. You're friends with Joey right? Are you staying here, because Joey stays here? She's the only human here, we should have more humans. Your kind is so charming and we learn so much from your kind. Joey teaches us all kinds of interesting things."

Maya flushed, her lips curving into a reluctant smile. "Name's Maya and for the record, you're so damn cute."

Bluestreak blinked slowly and Joey laughed at the look on his face. This might work out after all, she decided.

* * *

_That one actually hurt_, Panic thought darkly as she picked herself up off the ground. She ran a quick diagnostic, humming as it came back incomplete and riddled with errors. The femme was broken, her body and mind broken and warped, but they'd been that way for as long as she could remember which wasn't very long. She flexed her hands, feeling the joints snag and stick, two fingers nearly melted together from the explosion. A loud snarl brought her head up, her pale amethyst optics flaring in the dim lab.

There was a thing strapped to the table. Her thing, she thought with no small amount of uncertainty. It was straining, dental plates gnashing. Its mouth was imperfect, a severe gash that ran at an angle below one optic and down along its chin. The optics were black, liquid looking, and alien as they locked on the femme and the thing screamed and thrashed its mismatched limbs. She was fairly sure she'd made the thing. How else could it have gotten into the lab? Her lab?

Her glossa pressed and probed the inside of her mouth, head tipping to one side. She lunged suddenly her clawed hand slamming down around the thing's throat, pinning it. This I did, she thought as energon foam flecked on the abomination's lips and dental plates. Panic did this. Bad, Bad Panic.

"Baaaaad," she crooned, lips curling into a slow smile. "So so bad…" A thought later and the armor panel on her forearm was shifting to reveal a long thin energy blade that she tapped against the other's armor, raising little tendrils of smoke. "Are you a baaad thing like Panic?" She whispered, leaning close, lips brushing part of the thing's helm in a gentle caress. "Will we kill the Autobots? Oh, how destructive we could be." She brought the energy blade away, snuggling it gently against her other arm, watching the smoke curl as her paintjob blistered with a calculating indifference to the pain. Energon bubbled around the blade, the fingers of the hand tightening on the abomination's throat.

* * *

"Steady," Wheeljack ground out, his vocal indicators flashing softly.

Drift looked up slowly as he cradled the broken femme to his chest, her mismatched optics closed and her internal systems purring softly. "I've got this," he muttered, ignoring the looks on Ratchet and Wheeljack's faces.

Ratchet scuffed at the sand under foot, watching the femme recharge and nudged Wheeljack. "This femme, something like her is unprecedented," he said, pitching his voice low to keep the younglings from overhearing. "She's priceless."

Wheeljack rumbled softly, his internal workings growling and revving as he walked with the medic, keeping the two younglings always in sight. "She shouldn't be functional. She's impossible," the engineer muttered. "Protocols should have shut her down when whoever created her tried to activate her. No faction symbol either. She might be another damn Con."

"She functions though," Ratchet muttered, running a weary hand over his chevron. "And we don't know she's a Con."

"Things just keep snowballing. Getting more complicated. Things weren't like this when this war started, you know," Wheeljack said a little sadly, his optics crinkling slightly over his banded face-guard. "Things were simple."

"Keep it simple, stupid."

Wheeljack tipped his head. "What?"

"Human thing. Heard Joey say it before to Sideswipe," Ratchet said with a chuckle, his smile growing wry. "This war over-complicates things."

"Why did you join, Ratchet?"

The medic huffed softly through his vents, shaking his head slowly. "To make a difference. I was tired to seeing the young die needlessly. I saw the arenas, you know. On Cybertron."

Wheeljack made a sound akin to a growl. "Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, Prime pulled them from the arenas. Probably saved their hides, the young ones never last long in the arenas. I still can't figure what he saw in those two."

Ratchet smiled reluctantly. "Those two aft-heads have potential, I'll give them that. They're stupider than any younglings I've ever seen, but I'd trust them at my back."

Wheeljack stiffened as a low whine rose from the two younglings and the two older mechs turned to see the femme stirring slowly. "You think we can trust her?"

Ratchet dimmed his optics, his head lowering. "Let's see."

The engineer rumbled softly as he followed the medic back to the younglings.

The femme was struggling and hissing softly as Drift attempted to calm her. "Decepticon!" She shrilled, twisting in his grip.

"Drift, let her go!" Wheeljack snarled, his shoulder cannon leveling at the youngling mech.

Drift stared up at them, his optics pale, before he released her and backed away, his gaze never leaving the femme.

She sprang sideways in a crouch as Ratchet held up his hands to her. Her blue and red optic flared wildly in her young face as her internal systems revved. "What do you want?" She asked her voice soft and thin in the silence.

"I'm an Autobot," Ratchet soothed, moving closer in as nonthreatening a way as possible. "I won't hurt you."

"I'm not afraid of you," she whispered, her optics flickering from Drift, to Ratchet, to Wheeljack.

Ratchet smiled and the expression was so gentle it shocked Drift. "What's your designation and alliance?"

The femme's optics traversed their faces again, slowly. "Knight. No alliance." Her slim hand looked tiny in Ratchet's own large, battered grip.

_Things are changing_, Wheeljack thought to himself as the medic settled down beside the femme to talk with her in soft tones.

* * *

Engines whining, n blue and khaki F-14 streaked through the evening sky, leaving a scar of white vapors hanging in the reddening evening sky. The jet tipped his wings, swinging into a lazy turn as if the pilot was in no hurry to reach his destination.

Which was fairly true, Thundercracker had no real idea where he was going. With the Decepticons, when he'd joined he had known what he was doing. True, he had joined because his overzealous wing mates had joined, but he had felt good about their cause. They had been fighting for the very right to exist in a system controlled by an aristocracy that no longer felt they were needed. Outmoded by drones, the Decepticons had been the backbone of the Cybertronian society. The rough and ready workers in the system; the ones the higher-ups and well to do, the Autobots, had sneered down at.

Whose fault it was, Thundercracker didn't care. Only one thing was relevant to him and that was the end result. We fight to survive. We fight for the right.

Or they had.

He dove suddenly, slicing through the wet, clinging cirrus clouds with a scream of his engines. Things were changing though. They were losing their way, giving in to bloodthirsty ways. What did it even mean to be a Decepticon anymore? He thought despairingly.

And more importantly… to whom did he owe his loyalty anymore?

* * *

_Thanks for reading n please review._


	30. Ch30: Resistance

Disclaimer: Wide Spread Panic doesn't own Transformers, just an assortment of the OCs she isn't currently borrowing from ChaosKnight.

* * *

Ch. 30

Resistance

"The only thing we have going in our favor at all is that the Cons are too busy with infighting to come after us," Prowl muttered quietly as he watched Optimus move about the room. The big Prime seemed to think with motion, the routine reassuring to not only Optimus but Prowl. It was something grounding and solid.

"We outnumber them now," Optimus said finally, his words slow and deliberate. "Unfortunately, a large part of our ranks is made up of inexperienced younglings."

Prowl's fingers instantly pinched the bridge of his nose as he rumbled. "We do what we can and Ironhide has his hands full with them, but in the end they're nothing but a liability."

"Then we train them."

"We have been training them," Prowl growled, impatience leaking into his normally stoic voice.

"Then we adapt, try a new tactic."

Prowl frowned. "Like?"

"The humans have an interesting practice in their military… boot camp," Optimus said and Prowl had the distinct impression the mech was smiling behind his mask. "There's never been much in the way of training in this war, some primers and you put a weapon in the hands of the young and send them out onto the front line."

"There's never been time to train. The enemy won't wait on us," Prowl said softly, his door panels shifting against his back as he set his datapad down.

"How many have died since the war began? How many deaths were pointless?" The Prime's shoulders sagged wearily as he sat down. "Sometimes…. It's just too much."

Prowl sighed heavily through his vents as he touched his old friend's shoulder lightly. "You've pulled us through worse. Remember Kaon?"

Optimus chuckled. "Remember Ratchet wielding those laser scalpels?"

Shuddering at the memory, the tactician groaned. "Primus, help us all, I thought he'd lost it. I almost felt bad for those Cons."

"No one knows where he and Wheeljack got to still?" Optimus asked, his voice hopeful.

"Afraid not. They just vanished."

* * *

"BUMBEE!"

Sideswipe bemusedly watched as Bumblebee gave a rather effeminate shriek and ran past, being chased by two of the newly arrived femmes. "Hnn," he huffed dimly and nursed his Energon.

"I'm dying. This is what the Pit will be like… all fragging bright lights boring into your optics and noise grating your sensors," Tracks moaned from where his head was resting on a table in the rec room.

The morning after hadn't been particularly gentle on any of the younglings. Doubly so with the addition of a group of squealing femmelings. Hot Rod and Tracks both groaned in sync as the two chasing Bumblebee screamed evilly.

"Somebody shoot me… for the love of all that's holy.. shoot me," Sunstreaker snarled, lashing out to chuck an Energon cube at Bumblebee and smirking as the youngling crashed to the floor to be pounced by the femmes. The yellow Lambo smirked slightly as Sideswipe gave him a thumbs up.

"What happened to Blurr?" Hot Rod muttered, getting the other younglings' attention.

"Red Alert's interrogating him," Sideswipe all but purred. "He thinks Blurr's in it with the … cyber zombies."

"What… the … frag," Tracks snickered. "Seriously?"

Sideswipe winked an optic. "You can thank me for that one. Just bow down and worship my mighty awesomeness."

"What's a cyber zombie anyway?" Sunstreaker sneered, snatching the Energon cube out of Bluestreak's hand as the youngling made to sit down.

Bluestreak whined softly, the two humans perched on his shoulder glowering at the yellow twin.

"Wow, even teenage robots are jerks," Maya said as Joey frowned down at Sunstreaker.

"Oh wow, more little squishy things to get underfoot," Sunstreaker snarled back, optics flaring crankily.

"Fluffy! Come here!" Sideswipe perked up, hands outstretched as the brown-haired girl turned her glare on him. He wiggled his fingers invitingly, grinning.

"Don't hold your breath," she muttered, settling in against Bluestreak's neck, arm's crossed.

"Thanks for the worry, but I don't breath," he crooned, leaning across the table to attempt to reach her. She flailed at his clumsy fingers as Maya leaned to peer around Bluestreak's throat at the other girl. "Just come here!"

Joey kicked out at his fingers, shrieking as he snagged her by a leg and held her up. The girl's arms windmilled as she cursed him and Bluestreak rumbled softly at them. "Not cool!"

Sideswipe's systems hummed as he leaned back into his seat, dropping the struggling human into the palm of the other hand. She squeaked, sprawling out flat on her stomach. "I'm bored," he groused to the table at large as he prodded at Joey with a finger, smirking as she kicked and flailed at his huge fingers.

Sunstreaker huffed quietly to himself, his internal systems revving in thought. "What are the odds Wheeljack has something marginally interesting and excessively dangerous in his labs?"

Sideswipe, Hot Rod, and Tracks grinned slowly. Bluestreak fidgeted sheepishly, reaching to cup his hand around Maya as though to shield her from the stupidity that was coming.

* * *

All in all, the engineer's lab wasn't somewhere you typically wanted to be. Especially considering said engineer's uncanny ability to turn anything into an explosive device Joey was of the opinion that it wasn't Wheeljack's absent-mindedness so much as a bizarre type of Midas' touch. In theory, if Wheeljack wasn't in the lab, there should be no explosions. That was what she was reassuring herself with anyway as she rode on top of Sideswipe's head, clinging like a gecko.

Hot Rod and Tracks were poking around the large lab as Sunstreaker stood in the center of the room like a reigning god, overseeing everything. Bluestreak was nearby, too nervous to dig through Wheeljack's belongings with the other younglings.

Hot Rod let out a little whoop as he pulled out Wheeljack's mech-sized paintball gun from its hiding spot inside a supply cabinet. "Oooh jackpot."

With a soft snigger, Sideswipe held up a small vat of bonding agent, specially designed to bond sheared off pieces of outer armor together on the field. "And our victim is?"

Sunstreaker hummed softly. "No victim per se… we declare war," he announced, smirking as the other younglings laughed. "First we reclaim our fallen comrade!"

* * *

His processor hurt. Not just hurt, it ached. Red Alert glared at the youngling sitting contritely on the floor in his office. Any and all attempts to prize out the information on who'd instigated last night's riot had failed so far. Blurr smiled innocently up at him, arms crossed over his chest and apparently unphased at being in his proto-armor.

"You will concede eventually," Red snarled out the words angrily, optics narrowing. "You will tell me."

Blurr's head tipped back as he tapped the back of his helm against the wall behind himself. "Icouldtellyou,butthere'," he rambled, smiling beatifically at the red mech.

Red Alert frowned as his processor untangled Blurr's high speed babbling. "What intruders?" He demanded, bristling slightly. "What leak?"

Blurr fought to suppress a grin. The security officer was so high-strung, he'd believe anything. "There'sDecepticonspieseverywhere," he purred, wiggling his hands to get his wrists more comfortable in the stasis cuffs. He watched Red Alert's door open and Sideswipe slink inside, holding a vat of something. Revving softly, he improvised to keep the older mech's attention. "Isawoneofthemtheotherday, sabotagedyoursystems. Don'? So'sProwl. 're'malfunctioning'it'stowipeyourmemory."

Red Alert's optics widened and one twitched ever so slightly. "You lie," he growled, but Blurr could tell he'd won from the tension in the other mech's frame. He revved as he watched Sideswipe apply something to the seat of Red Alert's chair and the surface of his desk and then slink back out of the office.

Blurr shrugged at the Secuirty Officer. "Theyalwaysinsistyou'remalfunctioning. Doyouthinkyou'remalfunctioning?" He asked innocently and watched the red mech start to pace.

With a furious snarl, Red Alert sat down at his desk. "It is true that they claim I'm malfunctioning quite often, but-" He froze, frowning. He braced his arms on the chair's arm rests and tried to stand up. Nothing happened. With an alarmed look, he pushed braced his palms on his desk and tried to push himself up.

It was glue of some sort, Blurr realized with a grin as Red Alert panicked and warbled furiously in Cybertronian. "That'," Blurr scolded as the officer thrashed wildly, cursing.

His office door opened again and Tracks sauntered in, the paintball gun leaning on one shoulder as he stalked around the trapped security officer and turned off the majority of the Ark's cameras with one fell swoop.

Red Alert screamed in Cybertronian and English, hissing and struggling against the bonding agent.

Tracks raised his weapon and opened fire, painting Red Alert pink.

Sunstreaker swept into the room, surveying the fuming mech with disinterest as he waved at Blurr. Tracks ran over to remove the other youngling's stasis cuffs.

"Vivalaresistance!"

Sunstreaker snorted, his lips curling slightly. "I just want to raise a little Pit," he said, wiggling his fingers mockingly at Red Alert as he led his makeshift army out of the room, locking the door behind him.

* * *

Wheeljack narrowly watched Drift sit in the sand, one large finger drawing glyphs at his feet. The quiet youngling hadn't said a word the whole time Ratchet was questioning the young femme. The silence was beginning to grate on Wheeljack's nerves. With a disgusted huff, he sat down beside the traitor, eyeing the glyphs.

_Family. Past. Present. Pit. Matrix._

He glanced at Drift as the youngling swipe his hand through the glyphs with a rumble. "How did Megatron find you?" He asked softly, watching the youngling's fingers dig into the sand.

"I… I was desperate enough to try and steal from him. I grew up in Kaon… My creator abandoned me, I guess," he mumbled softly, glaring as Wheeljack rumbled in sympathy.

Kaon was essentially the slums of Cybertron; a place no one willingly went, but that those who had no place inevitably found themselves. Wheeljack had seen the place during a skirmish and he tried to imagine a lone youngling surviving in that horror. Mechs and femmes disappeared in Kaon. Attacked and dismembered for parts by the inhabitants while they lived or falling victim to far worse fates. Even battle-hardened mechs didn't tread easily in Kaon. You had to be ruthless, clever, and always on guard just to stay alive… eking out an existence….

Drift fingers gouged through the sand, as he frowned with his thoughts. "He caught me trying to steal Energon… I thought I was going to die… but he was… impressed I guess. Something about me seemed worth saving." Drift's head lifted cold anger in his optics. "He offered me food and shelter in exchange for doing whatever he asked."

"He made you a killer," Wheeljack said, frowning as the youngling shook his head.

"He gave me purpose."

The youngling shuddered suddenly, looking at his hands. "Some of the mechs I assassinated… I tried not to question whether they deserved to die or not," he said, his voice almost pleading. "My life was his… he could have killed me.. He gave it back though."

"War's not easy on anyone," Wheeljack mumbled softly. "You have to believe that what you're doing is right. Otherwise you'll go mad questioning it."

"I know what he's doing is wrong," Drift whispered, peering at Wheeljack sideways. "I think… he was in the right in the beginning, but he took things too far… he enjoys the killing…"

Wheeljack sighed heavily through his vents, reaching out to touch the youngling's shoulder, not surprised when Drift flinched away. "Your life is yours, kid. Do what you want with it."


	31. Ch31: Travellin' Light

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES**__: Sorry for the long gaps between updates, people. It's been so long since I've messed with this particular story that I had to go back and reread it to figure out where I was, but as those enigmatic people know only as 'they' say, 'the show must go on.' _

_Knight, Havoc, and Catastrophe belong to ChaosKnight. I'm just borrowing them. As always, I don't own the Transformers. I only use them for my own amusement and hopefully yours as well._

* * *

Ch.31: Travellin' Light

Those three were talking in low tones again.

Knight's mismatched optics narrowed as she stayed still with her back to the three mechs, pretending to be in recharge. The two older ones were Autobots, but she took little comfort from that fact- in her experience, Autobots could be just as manipulative as Decepticons. The fact that they justified themselves with more noble excuses did nothing to ease the ache of being used.

The two Autobots and the young Decepticon were discussing how to get her to take them home.

As if they simply couldn't just come out and ask her. Oh, no. Of course not; she was a _neutral. A NAIL: non-affiliated life-forms_. And those were the two nicest names her faction-less status had earned her over the vorns. Just because she didn't claim a side in the idiotic war, she wasn't to be trusted.

She felt her optics narrow, but resisted to urge to just pointedly ask them if they were ready to go back. Worry slowly set in as her optics flickered over them. As a neutral with no allegiance, but Cybertron it gave her a certain amount of freedom, but at the same time her unusual abilities made her an asset. A tool to be used by whoever possessed her-

And the Pit would freeze over before she let herself be used by anyone.

* * *

The reds and oranges of the canyon wall were beautiful from above. The sun was lowering in the sky, making the colors below flame and flicker as shadows chased the fading light. The sky itself was an even better show, Thundercracker decided as he lighted on the rough, sun-warm ground. He'd certainly never seen such colors on Cybertron.

That didn't mean he found this world lovelier than his broken home, though. Cybertron may not have had the same colors, but it was beautiful in its own way and always would be.

Back on Cybertron, everything had been great. Even after Starscream had dragged him and Skywarp both into the fledgling war, he hadn't really minded. He'd felt that they'd allied themselves to a great cause- overthrowing Autobot control and the corrupt bureaucracy.

Looking back, he couldn't see how he hadn't seen the war coming. It had been inevitable that he and the other worker class Cybertronians would eventually chafe under the firm thumb of the government. That didn't mean he agreed with the methods, but who else but Megatron could have led them?

That mech had been forged in the mines, tempered by the injustices heaped upon them.

Thundercracker had never been in the mines, but he'd suffered at the hands of the bureaucracy just as the miners and workers had. While they had been pushed to the breaking point with total disregard for the fact that they were more than mere drones, the Seekers had suffered law after law that had bound them tighter and tighter.

They had been jealous of those gifted with flight and they'd passed legislation aimed at grounding them- which was just as effective as crippling them. He and his trine-mates had joined the Decepticons to protect their own freedom.

Thundercracker's wings flexed at the memory. Flight was something ingrained in all Seekers; something as important as Energon itself. A Seeker who couldn't fly was as good as dead.

The Pit with the Autobots and their fragging laws.

He shifted slightly as he felt a slight twinge on the edge of his awareness. He wasn't all that surprised when Skywarp materialized out of nowhere. The purple and black trine member was as much a part of him as his own wings. Aside from their coloration and personalities, they were the same.

"Screamer's pissed," Skywarp said without preamble. The purple Seeker's optics flickered over their surrounding with only minimal interest. Skywarp had always been a bundle of energy; too tightly wound to settle long in one spot and constantly seeking distractions.

"When isn't he?"

Skywarp glanced at him, but his attention skittered away quickly enough. A lone hawk circled overhead and his brother watched it with an unreadable expression. "He says you abandoned us." His optics were wary as they turned back to Thundercracker.

He winced slightly. "I just need time."

"Come home?" Skywarp's clawed hands flexed slightly as he stared enviously up at the hawk.

"Not yet." Thundercracker sighed through his vents as Skywarp stared at him.

"We need you there," Skywarp said quietly, seeming oddly subdued. "Everything's messed up."

"Me being there won't fix that and you know it." Thundercracker studied his wing-mate in silence. He knew what Skywarp meant, though. If the three of them were together, then everything would seem better.

He twitched as Skywarp thumped him on one wing, the light smack sending ripples of near-pain through his sensor relays and making him draw his wings protectively up.

"Fragger." Skywarp muttered without heat as he flared his own wings challengingly.

"You're another." Thundercracker smiled reluctantly as Skywarp launched himself up and hovered above him.

"Son of a glitched Pit-spawn!" Skywarp crooned as he wiggled his claws at him.

"That's a fraggin' way to talk about our creators." Thundercracker groused as Skywarp winked an optic, before teleporting away.

Leaving Thundercracker all alone with his thoughts.

And they weren't great company.


End file.
